Giving Up is Easy, But We'll Take the Challenge
by PanicMoon15
Summary: For eight years Skye has been in and out of the orphanage. She's been branded as 'difficult' and no family wants a difficult child. Phil and Melinda are interested in fostering another child after their foster daughter, Natasha has left for college. Will they be able to cope with the unruly eight year old?
1. Skye's Difficult

Until Skye was eight years old, she was passed from pillar to post. Dumped on the steps of St. Agnes' Orphanage at the estimated age of three months, and from then on for the next eight years, moving between foster homes and the orphanage. The babies and the small kids, below four, usually only stayed at the orphanage for a few months, at most. Cute kids shot off the shelves. All potential parents wanted a child that was young enough to be moulded and shaped into their _own_.

Skye had spent eight years on and off at St. Agnes'. She knew all the tricks of the trade. All the little secrets about potential parents, the ways the nuns talked about certain kids to make them sound more appealing. Kids in care were like puppies for sale in a newspaper. Mutts being described as pedigrees. They literally had ads showing them off, written in such a sugar-coated style that it made Skye's teeth ache. She'd seem them all.

_Joseph is a highly spirited child. –_Disruptive- _He has a wonderful personality and is very active. –_Hyperactive- _He is a child who wears his heart on his sleeve. –_Anger management issues.

_Alanah is a quiet child who requires a loving and patient home. -_Anxiety disorder- _She has had unfortunate experiences in the past- _Abused – _but is learning to cope well with what has happened. –_ In therapy. It's not working.

_Sam has been involved in many clubs and activities -_Sam has been kicked out of many clubs and activities- _and is very alert at all times, constantly ready to play. –_Does not sleep - _He enjoys the company of others – _Cannot be left alone - _and craves a loving family who can give him the disciple and stability he craves. – _Severe behavioural problems.

The ads tended to be ever-changing as did the kids, but Skye had been featured in an ads for eight years with little luck.

Skye's ad had changed a fair bit in her time from her arrival at the orphanage (_Beautiful baby girl, Mary Sue, will be a gorgeous addition to any family…), _to her toddler years (_Mary Sue is a bright and curious child with a determined personality…), _until the ad written for her at age five became Skye's stamp by the state and the indication that everyone who had ever tried to get her a loving home, had essentially given up on her. She was taken out of the 'pre-school' section of the ads and instead lumped together with all the other kids who were too old to be attractive to potential adopters. She didn't even get a photograph anymore.

She got ten words in Times New Roman in an alphabetical list of names in an archival magazine of kids in care in the area. 'Poots' came right in the middle. It wasn't even _her _name.

_Mary Sue Poots. Elementary early years. Experienced foster parents required. _

That was it. Ten words. Ten words to describe little five year old Skye. Ten words that would describe her for the next three years. Even at the age of five, Skye knew what the words meant.

_Experienced foster parents required. _

It meant what they had been telling her for as long as she could remember. Why all of her various foster placements hadn't worked out. Why, despite her age and cute appearance, couples just didn't want her in their family. Skye was difficult.

'Difficult'

Every quarterly review they'd ever done on little Skye had the word somewhere in the first few sentences.

She was _difficult to cope with, difficult to diffuse, difficult to socialise, difficult to rehome. _Mary Sue Poots was just _difficult_. And no one wanted a kid that was difficult. Of that Skye was certain.

Or so she thought.

….

When Abby, turned up at St. Agnes' at 2pm on a Saturday in October, the kids in the rec room dropped whatever they were doing and flocked around the woman like baby chicks.

"Abby look at how I can write my name now!"

"Have you found me a forever family yet, Abby?"

Abby was a social worker.

"Is my Mommy coming to get me, Abby. Did you give her my card that I made?"

"I was good at school this week, Abby. I promise. Tell them to write in my report that I was good!"

Abby didn't answer their questions. She high-fived the older kids and hugged the younger ones. She told them that she was very busy and she was working hard for all of them to find them homes.

Skye didn't believe that, and yet there she was with the rest of the kids, pushing her way to the front of the crowd to tug on Abby's sleeve. Abby smiled brightly at her then turned to one of the little boys to give him a fist-bump. He squealed in delight.

She only worked with about a third of the kids at the orphanage, there was another four who turned up every now and then, though Abby held the majority, but it didn't matter _which_ social worker had come to see them. All that mattered was that _a_ social worker had arrived. Because if a social worker was there and she didn't have a child with her, then it was only good news- she was taking someone away with her.

Abby left the rec room with one of the nuns and the kids gradually dissipated and went back to their original activities.

For few minutes, Skye hung around by the door to the offices with a few of the other kids, in the hope Abby would return and have some good news for them, but that only lasted five minutes, before she gave up. She glanced at the clock on the far wall. At least Skye thought it was five minutes; telling time was still something Skye had yet to grasp.

Leaving a few of the others by their post at the door, Skye moved over to the corner of the rec room and sat by the bookcase on some of the brightly coloured, oversized cushions. She didn't really like reading, it was hard, and when she couldn't read some of the big words her teacher at school got angry, so instead Skye just pretended to read _Matilda _and kept an eye on the door where Abby had left with Sister Jane.

"Thkye." A four year old boy by the name of Owen toddled over with a jigsaw puzzle box under one arm, and pulled at the hem of Skye's hoodie. She ignored him. "_Thkye_" he whined insistently around his thumb, letting the box drop to the ground next to her feet.

"It's _Skye_." She grumbled, irritably. It was almost impossible to get even a few minutes peace in a place with nearly fifty kids constantly prying in on her business, even if Skye _was_ only pretending to read. "If you would stop sucking your thumb for two seconds then maybe people would know what you were saying." Skye huffed. At least she only sucked her thumb when no one was looking.

Owen watched her with wet, angry eyes, he was a crier. Skye sighed. She hadn't _meant_ to make him cry, but like all the kids, the longer Abby was in the office for, the more agitated she got. Owen's frown deepened as the first fat tear escaped his eyes, and in a rage, kicked Skye hard in the shin.

"Ow!" She hissed. "What the hell was that for you little brat?" Skye rubbed her shin and gritted her teeth to stop the pricking in her eyes. "That _really_ _hurt_."

Owen sniffled. "You're mean Thkye. 'M telllin' thither Margaret."

"No!" Skye cried, attracting a few glares from some of the older kids who were _actually_ reading. "No, don't." She said more quietly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be grumpy, Owen. Please, please, _please_ don't tell Sister Margaret." Skye pled with the little boy, but the damage was done, he was already pattering over to the older nun to tell on her. "Fine!" She called after him. "I'll just tell her how you kicked me!"

Owen didn't look back.

Skye watched from the sanctity of the reading corner, as Owen pointed to her and rubbed at his eyes. Skye didn't need to be able to read lips to know he was embellishing the story. Sister Margaret's face said it all. Owen was a favourite of the nuns; cute and just whiny enough to stay on their radars without being too annoying. She had no chance, even if he had kicked her.

Sister Margaret caught Skye's eye, and beckoned her over to where she was sat at her desk, with a crooked finger. For a brief second, Skye considered blatantly ignoring the woman, but she already had four behavioural reports this week and ignoring her would just get her into even more trouble.

Skye stood and walked over to the desk. Owen was no longer crying, but he snivelled away on Sister Margaret's side of the desk, sucking his thumb and leaning his head on her elbow pathetically. Skye glared at him.

Sister Margaret sighed heavily and laced her fingers together on the top of her desk. Skye looked down at the half completed crossword and the cold cup of tea on the table top. "Now, Mary-,"

Skye's head whipped up. "It's _Skye_." She protested.

Sister Margaret rolled her eyes. "_Mary_, would you care to explain to me why you were bullying a baby?" She stroked a hand over Owen's dark hair.

"He's not a baby. He's nearly _five_." Skye said incredulously. "There are kids his age who can read."

"And there are children _your_ age, Mary, who can read, too. But you're not one of them now, are you?" Sister Margaret said sweetly.

Skye felt her cheeks burn. It wasn't _her _fault if she was stupid. Reading was hard. She looked back at the cold tea and squeezed her eyes shut to stop the burning behind them. "I can read." Skye mumbled.

"Not well, dear. Now tell me why you were bullying Owen, here. You know we don't tolerate bullies here at St. Agnes'"

Skye scoffed. "I wasn't _bullying _him." She looked up at Sister Margaret earnestly, desperately hoping she'd believe her. "I was a little bit mean but I said sorry right after, I swear I did! Tell her, Owen!"

Owen hid his face in Sister Margaret's cardigan.

"Mary Sue-,"

"_Skye."_

"_Mary Sue. _No more free time until the end of next week-,"

"What? But he _kicked me_! And-,"

"_And_ I'm giving you another behavioural report for you to take to the office." Sister Margaret began writing out the pink strip of paper. "Five this week is not a good way to go, Mary." She ripped the slip out of the pad and handed it over to Skye, lacing her hands together again and smiling at her. "No parents want a child who is difficult."

Skye glared at the older woman, biting the inside of her mouth to stop the angry words she wanted to say, from escaping. Owen was smirking around his thumb. He cuddled into Sister Margaret's side, and she lifted him into her lap and cuddled him closer.

The nuns had never hugged _her_ like that.

Owen eyed Skye, smirked, then whimpered and hid his face in the nun's shoulder.

"Oh, little man, I know you're upset because of Mary, but it's alright." Sister Margaret opened a desk drawer, rummaged for a second and pulled out a blue pacifier. She offered it to the almost five-year-old and he grabbed it off her, stuffing the teat into his mouth. "Get yourself off to the office with that behavioural write up, Mary." She instructed.

"I guess you _are_ a baby." Skye mumbled at Owen, gripping the paper.

Sister Margaret smiled. "At least _he_ doesn't wet the bed."

With tears in her eyes and her behavioural report clutched in her hands, Skye took off in the direction of the office. Her chest felt tight and her shoulders shook as a sob escaped her.

…

"Are you absolutely _sure_ you want to take a child on like her?" Sister Jane asked the couple for what seemed to be the hundredth time.

Phil nodded. "Yes. As I've assured you, Melinda and I have plenty of experience with challenging children, and from what Abby has told us, this little girl deserves the chance at a long-term home."

"You understand why she has yet to procure a long-term placement?" Sister Jane asked, looking from Melinda to Phil. "Her behaviour has never been wonderful," the woman said, shaking her head, "but just look at her file. I'm not even sure we can cope with her here."

"All the more reason for us to take her home." Melinda replied dryly. She had never liked Sister Jane all that much and their current conversation was doing nothing to stem her distaste for the nun.

"Listen," Abby the social worker interrupted, "ultimately, _I_ am the person who gets to make the decision regarding the child. As her social worker, it has been my responsibility to provide this child with the opportunities for a loving home, and so far, I have failed her."

Abby lifted the hefty file from the desk and handed it to Phil before continuing. "I agree that she can be a handful, and that in recent months since returning from a particularly bad placement, for which I fully blame myself, that her behaviour has worsened significantly," Sister Jane nodded enthusiastically in agreement and Abby rolled her eyes, "_however, _what this little girl needs is a loving and stable home, or the way things are going, she is going to be locked in the foster system until she's old enough to end up on the streets or in prison."

The three others in the room stared at Abby as she finished her rant. The social worker shrugged.

"Tell me I'm wrong." She said. No one corrected her. "Inexperienced foster parents would not be able to cope, I understand this," she turned to Sister Jane, "but I am confident that Phil and Melinda will be able to take care of her, and give her a better chance in life."

Sister Jane sighed heavily, leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. "Well, you two _did_ manage to tame the Russian…"

"_Natasha_" Melinda growled. "She's called _Natasha_."

"Yes," the sister agreed, "and you managed to put up with her for four years, so I'm sure you'll be able to cope with this one."

"Actually," Phil said, "we've had the _absolute pleasure _of being Natasha's care takers for five years. Just because she went to college last year, that does not mean we are no longer her parents."

Sister Jane looked surprised for a moment, and opened her mouth to reply, but a knock resounded on the door, brining her out of her stupor.

"Come in." She called.

All the adults turned to the door as it was pushed open, and a small scraggly, dark haired girl eased her way into the room. She wiped furiously at her eyes.

"Ah," Sister Jane smiled, "Mary Sue, just in time."

"In time for what?" For little girl asked timidly, eyeing the two strangers.

"We'll cross that bridge in a moment." Sister Jane replied. "Firstly, why are you here?"

Skye handed over the pink slip to the nun, sidling closer to Abby than the strange couple.

Sister Jane tutted. "Oh dear, Mary Sue. Five in one week. And _this _time for bullying a younger child?"

"But it wasn't my fault." Skye protested. "Look, _he_ kicked _me_." She pulled up the leg of her jeans to show off the visible bump on her shin.

"Oh, sweetie, that looks like it hurts." Phil said to the little girl.

"It does." Skye mumbled shyly.

"Don't encourage her, Mr Coulson. As I've said, this one is a problem. Won't even react to her own name recently." The Sister shook her head.

Skye glared at her angrily. "Because it's not _my _name. I told you I wanted to pick my own name, and I picked 'Skye'."

"Like I said," Sister Jane said dryly, "a problem."

"Well, she won't have be _your _problem for long." Melinda muttered.

Skye frowned, looking between the adults. "Can I go now?" She asked. "Sister Margaret already said I get no more free time for a week."

"Actually, honey, I'm glad you're here." Abby said kindly. "Why do you think I'm here today?"

Skye looked at her questioningly. "I thought you were gonna take someone away 'cos you didn't bring anyone with you."

"Well, that's right, Mary." Abby smiled.

"It's Skye." Skye reminded the social worker. "It's not Owen, is it?" Skye asked with a grimace, and Melinda had to hide a smirk. "Actually," Skye reconsidered, "you can take him. I don't care where he goes, as long I don't have to see him everyday."

Abby laughed. "Good news, Skye, you won't have to see Owen everyday."

Skye's eyes widened. "You're taking him away?"

"No, honey, you're going to a new home."

"_Me_?" Skye asked quietly.

"Yes." Abby grinned. "Mr and Mrs Coulson would like to foster you."

Skye turned to the couple, who both smiled at her kindly. "I get to go home with you?"

"Only if you'd like to." Phil said.

Skye was taken aback. She's never really been given the choice before. The little girl leaned over to Abby and whispered not-so-quietly in her ear.

"Are they nice?"

"Yes. I promise." Abby said.

Skye frowned. "You promised that last time."

Abby placed a hand on the little girl's head and smiled sadly. "I know, and I truly believed their family was going to be perfect for you, but I admit that I was wrong." She turned to Phil and Melinda. "But Mr and Mrs Coulson have taken care of children before, and they come highly recommended from their previous foster kids. They've been wanting another child to foster since their most recent foster daughter left."

Skye straightened, folding her arms, gaining some of the spunkiness that had been getting her into trouble recently. She turned to Melinda and Phil.

"If you're so nice, how come you don't got any more foster kids, huh?"

Melinda grinned at the little girl's bravado. "She went to college last year, but she still comes home in the breaks."

"Oh." Skye said. "Okay, then."

"So, Skye, is it?" Phil asked.

"Yes." She assured. "My name is _Skye_." The child eyed Sister Jane.

"So, Skye," Phil grinned, "would you like to come live with Melinda and I?"

Skye pretended to consider the offer for a second, picking the pink behavioural slip back up off Sister Jane's desk. "Y'know, Mr Coulson," she turned to the nun, holding the slip out, "I think I _would _like to leave this place and go live with you." Skye grinned and tore the pink slip in two, dropping the pieces on the desk.

"Skye…" Abby reprimanded exasperatedly, secretly amused.

"What?" the little girl shrugged, "If I'm leaving for a little while, I'm leaving in style."

Melinda shook her head, laughing, "You certainly are."


	2. Skye's Not Good

For all that Sister Jane had argued that Melinda and Phil would not be able to cope with taking care of eight-year-old Skye, she certainly proved her desire to be rid of the little girl herself, when all of the paperwork was rushed through in less than an hour. Phil was sure this hurried transfer of a child was frowned upon, but both he and his wife kept their mouths shut, signing whatever they were told to and assuring Abby they would be fine.

"Any problems, feel free to call me." Abby said, flicking through the paperwork. "Any time. Day or night, night or day. Any time."

"You don't need to worry." Phil assured her, signing again as the social worker pointed to yet another dotted line. He passed the paper along to Melinda. "You know better than anyone that this is not our first rodeo, so to say."

"I know, I know." Abby sighed. "And I know you've managed difficult children in the past, and Natasha's wonderful _now_, case and point, but-,"

"Abby," Melinda put a hand on the other woman's shoulder, "Phil and I will be able to cope. We've read her file cover to cover, several times. The kid just needs a home."

"That's what I've been saying for eights years, and so far, it hasn't gone great. She's had more homes than most of the kids out there, and not one has been a fit."

Phil smiled. "Yeah, well, she hasn't had a _family_. We can give her that."

Abby took the paperwork back off of Phil and straightened it on the desk. "Perhaps all Mary Sue needs is a family." She mused.

"Skye." Melinda corrected. "She seems to prefer 'Skye'."

…

While the papers were being signed, Skye had been sent up to her room to pack her things and to say goodbye to the other children, although the latter was unlikely. Skye didn't waste her time making friends in the orphanage and she didn't delude herself into thinking that when she left, that any of the other kids even cared.

The room she shared with nine other girls was empty when Skye entered. They weren't allowed to hang around in the bedrooms during the day because in Sister Margaret's own words it 'encouraged mischief'. The last time all ten occupants of Skye's room had been left alone, she'd ended up being pinned to the ground and spat on. That game had been a particular favourite with the girls in her room for a good few weeks during the summer, and when she had retaliated and kicked one of them in the face by accident, it had still somehow _all _been her fault. It wasn't fair.

Skye hated this bedroom. The peeling walls, the creaky floor, the bunk beds. Skye _hated _the bunk beds. But most of all, more than all of that, Skye _hated_ the girls she had to share the room with.

The kids at St. Agnes' were lumped together in rooms divided by age and gender. The pre-school kids shared rooms, the teenagers shared rooms, but then somewhere in the middle, the children were sorted by what Skye suspected was a system consisting of 'who fits where?' And at the age of eight, when she had returned from her previous foster home to find the bed she had left, filled by a new girl, Skye had been shown to this new room filled with five bunk beds, five chests of drawers, and nine other girls, all older than her and all disgruntled that an eight year old had arrived to spoil their eleven and twelve year old fun. The only bed left had been the top bunk in the far corner.

The top bunk _sucked_.

Skye hated the top bunk almost as much as she hated her roommates. It was too hard to get down in the middle of the night when she'd…when she needed to get down. _And _sometimes the other kids took away the ladder in the middle of the night so she used to get stuck up there. Not anymore though, she'd perfected the 'top bunk jump' out of necessity. And actually, the 'top bunk jump' was kind of fun.

It didn't take Skye long to pack. Most of her stuff was already in the two plastic bags that constantly sat at the foot of her mattress (the girls she was supposed to share the dresser with were less than accommodating) and her _really _special things she kept in the backpack she used for school. That stayed under her pillow or under the duvet, away from sticky fingers.

That was it. Her whole life in three bags. It would be sad, except Skye's whole life had been in three bags for as long as she could remember, and really, that was fine, because she moved so much. It was pretty easy to carry three bags. Some of the other kids probably had less than her anyway, so she _tried _not to complain.

She was standing on the top bunk, stripping the sheets off the bed, when a voice startled her.

"Hey, you almost ready to go?"

Skye turned, stumbling slightly on the lumpy mattress, to see Mrs Coulson standing at the bedroom door. She smiled at Skye and came further into the room.

"Everything's all set," Mrs Coulson said, "we're ready when you are."

"Um," Skye swallowed, running her fingers over the frayed edge of the sheet, "I'm supposed to take off the sheets before I go. So they can wash 'um, I guess. For the next kid." _Or for when I come back_, Skye didn't say.

"I could help?" Mrs Coulson asked.

"S'okay. I can do it." Skye grinned. "I've done it lots of times b'fore, y'know, Mrs Coulson." She bragged.

"Call me Melinda." Mrs Coulson smiled, but nodded, and watched in amusement as the little girl wrestled with the sheets and duvet, until a pile of bedclothes thudded to the ground, Skye among them. Melinda's heart was in her throat for a second, before the child burst from the sheets with a manic grin and a giggle, dark hair all over the place.

"I like to pretend I'm being a parachute jumper!" She declared. "S'pecially when Sister Margaret can't tell me off for jumpin', even though there's no ladder! How does she 'spect me to get down? She's a meanie." Skye grumbled, kicking at the sheets.

"I agree." Melinda whispered, and Skye's eyes went wide. "That's why the sooner we get out of here, the better."

"Yeah." Skye nodded. Her eyes fell to the rumpled sheets, and she looked back up at Melinda. "I'm supposed to fold 'em."She said sadly.

Melinda took one look at the sheets and kicked them under the bed. "Yeah, well, I hate folding." She turned to the bags next to Skye on the ground. "This all your stuff?"

"Yep. Well, all 'sept my coat. Someone took it last week."

"Who took it?" Melinda frowned.

Skye shrugged. "Dunno. Probably one of the older kids being mean, but I don't know where it is, so…" She trailed off, kicking nothing with the holy toe of her sneaker.

"Hey." Melinda smiled when Skye looked back up at her. "Don't' worry about it. Let's go."

Skye nodded, and Melinda made to pick up the third bag on the ground, Skye's backpack, but the little girl jumped in front of it with a hard look at the woman.

"No! That's _mine, _you're not allowed to touch it!" She practically growled. "S'_mine_!"

Melinda backed off, palms out best she could with Skye's other two bags on her wrists. "Okay, I promise I won't touch it. Okay?"

The little girl nodded, but kept a tight grip on the ratty hand-me-down.

"I'm sorry I tried to touch your things without asking." Melinda said gently, crouching down in front of Skye. "That was wrong of me, I should have asked." Skye watched her sceptically. "I promise in the future, I will always ask before I touch your things. Is that okay?"

"I guess." She mumbled.

"I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?"

Skye frowned. She didn't think an adult had _ever_ asked _her_ to forgive _them_. It suddenly occurred to her that she could say 'No', she had the power to refuse forgiveness, but instead, she found herself saying, "Yes. I forgive you, Melinda."

Melinda smiled broadly and stood up straight. "Come on, Skye. Let's go home."

…

Mr Coulson was talking to Abby when Skye and Melinda came down the stairs from the bedrooms.

"So she's doing well?" Abby asked, smiling.

"Very well." Mr Coulson smiled proudly. "Both of them are."

"Oh, that's fantastic." Abby gushed. "You know I was worried about Natasha when she first arrived. I'm over the moon to know she's doing so well."

Skye followed behind Melinda quietly as they approached Abby and Mr Coulson.

Abby turned to Melinda. "_And _of course, you've got one back in England now, too." Abby shook her head in disbelief. "How old must she be by now?"

"She was twenty-five last month." Melinda said.

"_Twenty-five?_" Abby continued to shake her head.

Skye thought she looked like a nodding dog and that made her smile a bit, but she put her hand up to her mouth to hide it, just in case Abby saw and thought she was laughing at her. Skye always tried to be good for Abby; Abby was the one who found Skye homes.

The social worker smiled brightly. "You blink and they're so grown up. I swear Natasha was fourteen yesterday. Unbelievable. Making me feel old. They all grow up _so _fast." She turned to Skye. "That'll be you soon." Abby put a hand on Skye's shoulder.

Melinda and Mr Coulson nodded along with Abby. She always talked a lot. For as long as Skye could remember, Abby had talked too much. 'Chatty' was how Sister Jane described her, but Sister Margaret called Abby 'an infuriating hot-air artist'. Skye wasn't sure what that meant but it never sounded good when she said it.

Skye didn't know who or what they were talking about now. Abby kept patting her head and saying about how she would be 'twenty-five in the blink of an eye' just like 'the other one, back in England'. Skye was only eight, nowhere _near_ to being twenty-five, and she still had no idea _who _was twenty-five. She wanted to ask, but the three adults were having a proper conversation and it was rude to interrupt, and Skye really didn't want them to shout at her on the first day.

"You've got kids all over the globe." Abby was saying to Melinda and Mr Coulson.

"Yes," Melinda smiled, "One at college in DC, one working in England, and now," She turned to Skye, "one back at home with us."

Skye smiled back and didn't flinch away when Melinda swept some hair out of her eyes. She felt a little bad about shouting at her for touching her backpack.

"Not to mention all the others scattered across the world from when you were doing emergency fostering." Abby laughed. "You must have cared for half the kids in the system."

"We do get a lot of Christmas cards." Mr Coulson smiled. He turned to Melinda and Skye, still smiling brightly. "All set?" He asked in one of Abby's rare gaps in conversation. "Ready to go, Skye?

Skye nodded and gripped her backpack. "Yes, sir."

"You want to say goodbye to anyone before we go?" He asked.

Skye grimaced. "No, thank you, Mr Coulson. M'good."

"Call me Phil."

"No, thank you, _Phil_." She corrected. Skye turned around to address the rest of the orphanage. No one was there, the nuns had made themselves scarce, and the rest of the kids were off in the rec room or playing outside, but every time she left she felt like she wanted to tell the actual building.

"Good riddance!" Skye shouted at the top of her voice.

Abby shook her head. "Every time."

"I guess she's eager to get out of here." Melinda smirked.

"I guess she is." Phil agreed. "Come on then, Skye, home time."

Skye smiled and nodded, shouldering her bag. Going to a new home was scary, and usually she got a tummy ache for a while when she first met who she was going to live with. Now, she had butterflies, like before her race at school on sports day, but her tummy didn't _hurt_.

Each time she went to a new home it was exciting, and nerve-wracking, but this felt different. Melinda and Phil were smiling, proper happy smiles, not fake ones, and they called her 'Skye' all of the time. That felt really good. She didn't have to keep reminding them of her _real _name. Maybe it would be a good place to stay for a while.

"Let's go." Skye grinned, and led the way to the parking lot.

…

Phil said the drive would be over an hour, so Melinda sat in the back of the car with Skye so she wouldn't get bored. They had a bag with snacks in for the journey and Melinda even said Skye could drink a juice box in the car. Skye liked that. Melinda and Phil were nice.

"Do I get my own room?" Skye asked on the way to the Coulson's house, picking at chip crumbs on the strap of her backpack, which sat in her lap. She always made sure to ask the most important questions before they got to the house.

"Yeah." Phil smiled at her in the rear-view mirror. "We have four bedrooms." Skye was impressed. "One is Mel's and I's, one is our daughter Natasha's and one belonged to our other daughter."

"Belonged?" Skye questioned, looking to Melinda. "Doesn't she want it anymore?"

"Well, technically it's still hers." Melinda clarified. "But she doesn't live with us anymore, she has her own apartment and all of her stuff is there, so we use it as a guest room."

Skye had never had her own proper room before. Some foster parents had big enough houses that she didn't need to share a bedroom, but it was never _hers_. She was never there long enough to properly lay claim to it. If she had her very own room, she would never _ever_ want to give it up, no matter where she moved.

"Doesn't she mind?" Skye asked. "What if she wants to come home?"

"Not really. She hasn't lived with us for a very long time. And if she wanted it back, it'd still be waiting for her." Phil said.

Skye frowned. "How long since she lived there?"

"Ooh…" Phil said, watching the road ahead, "about four years? Mel?"

"Yeah, four years."

That was half as long as Skye had been alive. "That _is _a long time." She looked out of the window at the rolling greens on the edge of the highway. "If I had a Mommy and Daddy, I would never move out. I'd stay there forever and ever and ever."

"She almost did." Melinda laughed and Skye looked over to her in question. "She didn't want to leave Phil and I when she went to college, thought she'd miss us too much, so she stayed at home with us for three years and went to the one in the city. Drove there every day just so she could stay home."

Skye nodded. She could see why their daughter would want to do that. "Was that Natasha?" She asked. Skye was intrigued regarding this Natasha character Abby had been prattling on about.

"No," Phil answered, "our other daughter, Bobbi."

"Natasha's a few years younger, she goes to college in DC."

"That's where the president lives." Skye declared. She'd learned that in school once.

"Very true." Melinda laughed. "Although Natasha hasn't met him yet."

Skye looked back out at the grass rushing by. "Do you have lots of kids?" She asked. "My last foster parents already had four children…." Skye trailed off, tightening her grip on her backpack. "And they weren't very nice."

"Well, our kids are all grown up." Melinda said.

Skye looked at the woman's reflection in the car window. "How many though?"

"Just the two." Phil laughed.

"And Clint." Melinda added, laughing.

"Right." He agreed. "And Hunter."

"No, he doesn't count. He's Bobbi's problem."

"Clint was Nat's problem."

Melinda leaned forward in her seat. "Yes, but we fed and clothed Clint for almost a year, so, he counts."

"Fair enough." Phil smiled. "So, Skye, I guess that's two, and Clint. He's like a half."

"Who _are _all of these people?" Skye looked between Phil and Melinda. They just sniggered. "Seriously, guys. I'm not kidding." Skye put on her best 'serious face'.

Phil smirked at her in the rear-view mirror. "_And _there was Trip."

"Oh he's got to count for at least half, too."

"Half?" Skye asked.

"Like Clint, he's not really our son," Melinda explained, "but he stayed with us a lot when he was growing up, so he's got a place in our hearts."

"Wait," Skye shook her head to clear all the confusion of names, "Who's Clint?"

"Natasha's…" Phil trailed off and waved around with his hand not on the steering wheel. "Nat's… best friend? Boyfriend? All of the above?"

"Something like that." Melinda agreed.

Skye wiggled in her booster seat. It was new, she noticed, bought especially for her. "So who's everyone else?"

"Who else?" Melinda asked.

"Hunter." Skye counted off on her fingers. "And I still don't really know who Clint or Trip are. _And _Abby said you took care of half of the kids in the system." She held all ten fingers out to Melinda. "That's like, a lot."

"They are very long stories, are what they are." Phil said. "Long stories for another time, I think."

"Kay." Skye accepted, sensing this conversation was over, and anyway, things were beginning to get significantly more interesting out of the window. The expanse of green began to give way to suburban townage; parks, café's, schools, houses, all becoming more and more clustered the further Phil drove them.

"How far now?" Skye asked, craning her neck to keep her eyes trained on a particularly large swing set in someone's front yard as they passed.

"Not far now." Phil confirmed with a glance in the rear view mirror. "Five minutes. Tops."

"Cool." Skye muttered, too enamoured with the views of an upcoming playground to say anything else.

Melinda watched as the little girl pressed her nose to the glass of the car window as they passed the local playground. There were plenty of kids around playing on the equipment, as Phil slowed the car to a stop to allow a family to cross the street.

"We could go to the playground tomorrow, if you wanted?" Melinda suggested, tapping Skye on the shoulder.

Skye turned to face her as Phil pulled away. "S'okay." She shrugged.

"Looks like fun, Skye." Phil commented.

"Maybe. But it's okay." She didn't want to start demanding Melinda and Phil take her places, especially when they had no other reason to go to the playground. Their kids were all grown up. They were probably sick of taking kids to parks.

"We'll think about it again, tomorrow." Melinda smiled.

"Kay."

Without being told, Skye knew they must be nearing Phil and Melinda's house. The car began moving slower and slower as they entered a housing estate with shiny cars and garages and big front yards that looked like some of the pictures of houses in the books at school. Phil pulled up into a driveway of a house, smaller than some they had passed on their journey, but still pretty big, _and_ it had a front yard with a fence around and everything.

"You guys are _rich_." Skye said, leaning forward in her seat to get a better look at the front of the house.

"Not rich." Phil said, unbuckling his seatbelt and turning around. "We're…comfortable."

Skye twisted her face. "That just means rich. That's how rich people say rich."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Did you guys win the lottery or something?"

"We've worked very hard to be comfortable." Melinda said. "We still work very hard." She unbuckled her own belt.

"Neither of us used to have money, but hard work got us to where we are." Phil said, getting out of the car and ducking around to open Skye's door.

Melinda too got out of the car, coming around to Skye's side, standing by Coulson. She helped Skye climb out of the back of the car, allowing the little girl to carry her backpack. Skye stared back up at the house. The grass in their front yard was a bit longer than everyone else's and there was a basketball hoop over the garage door that Skye really hoped they'd let her play with.

"Working hard and being kind and being your best is important. More than money and being 'rich'." Melinda said.

Skye turned to her, taking her eyes off the hoop. "That's _awesome_." She breathed, gawking at Melinda. "That's so cool. That's what I want to be like when I grow up."

Melinda frowned slightly. "Being wealthy isn't important, Skye. It's not awesome."

"No, no." Skye shook her head is frustration. "Not _that_. I want to be kind and to work hard." She said. "So I can be good."

Phil bent down in front of Skye, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You are good Skye. And kind _and _hard working."

Skye looked away at the marks on the fence of the front yard that were maybe meant to be goalposts. "M'not good." She mumbled. She tried so hard to be good, but she just couldn't be, families just kept bringing her back because she was bad. She was _difficult_.

"I think you're good." Phil smiled.

Skye turned back to him with a bored look. "You've only known me for like three hours." Skye said. "I can pretend to be good for three hours so you won't take me back."

She expected Phil to be sad when she told him she was only pretending and trying her best to _seem_ good, but he just laughed and looked over at Melinda. She was smiling, too.

"Skye," Phil said, "you don't need to pretend to be anything with us, okay? Just be you."

"What if 'me' is bad and you want to send me back to Agnes'?"

Melinda brushed hair from Skye's face, like she had done back at the orphanage. It kind of felt nice, Skye thought. She kind of wanted to hug Melinda, but she just stood still and stayed quiet, being good.

"You know," Melinda said, "you're not the first little one to come stay with us who thought they were a bad person."

"I'm not?"

"Nope." Melinda brushed the pad of her thumb over her cheek. "And I'll tell you what I told her, what I _still _tell her when she's feeling down, so listen up, little one."

Skye did. She concentrated really hard to try and listen to Melinda. When Melinda bent down to her level, Skye even looked her in the eye, because that was polite when you were listening to what someone had to say.

Melinda stared at her. "There is no such thing as a 'bad person'." She said. "There are only bad decisions, and we will never stop taking care of you for making bad decisions, because everyone makes mistakes. Phil and I will forgive you for whatever you do, as long as you understand why you're sorry."

Skye kept on looking at Melinda even after she stopped talking, because the words were still going around in her mind in Melinda's voice.

"But what if I do lots of bad things?" Skye asked.

"Then we'll have lots of saying 'sorry' and forgiving." Melinda said. "You're not a bad person, Skye."

"You're a good person." Phil nodded. "I know that, and I've only known you three hours, so you must be _really_ good if I already know that."

It felt nice to hear, but I didn't make sense. Maybe Phil wasn't lying, Skye thought, maybe he really _did_ think that Skye was good, when she wasn't.

"If I'm so good, then how comes no one wants me to be in their family?" Skye asked to prove her point.

Phil's face softened and Melinda did the nice hair-stroking thing again.

"We want you in our family." Melinda said and Skye _really_ wanted to hug her now.


	3. Skye's Sorry

Phil carried Skye's two bags of clothes into the house, leaving her and Melinda out on the driveway. Melinda held out her hand to the little girl, and Skye eyed it for a moment, before taking it with her own and being led into the house.

The house smelled nice, Skye noted. That was always a good thing. There had been past foster homes that stank of wet dog or old people and soup, which hadn't necessarily been what made them bad, but it had set the tone for her stay. So far, Phil and Melinda were way up there with the good foster homes Skye had stayed in.

Melinda kicked the door shut behind them, keeping a hold of Skye's hand and gently pulling her into a living room, where Phil was placing the bags of clothing on the floor by one of the couches.

"How about we do a little house tour, and then we can unpack your things a little later?" Phil asked.

"Um…okay." Skye mumbled, suddenly feeling shy now that she was invading on the Coulson's house.

"Why don't you leave you backpack in here with your clothes?" Melinda asked, swinging their joined hands to grab Skye's attention.

Skye looked up with panicked eyes. "But what if it gets stolen?" She asked seriously.

"Honey, there's only us three in the house." Melinda assured her. "And we're all going to be together. I guarantee you, your backpack will not be stolen."

"Are you sure? 'Cos, I'll be _so _mad if we come back and it's gone." Skye tugged on Melinda's hand. "Like, you don't even know how mad I'll be."

"_So _mad?" Melinda asked with a smirk, but Skye nodded, expression serious.

"Yes. _So _mad."

"What's so special about your backpack, then?" Phil asked, perching on the arm of the couch.

Skye scoffed. "Nothing. It used to be one of the boy's who got fostered last summer. Mine got broken in a tug-fight, that was definitely not my fault at all, no matter what that stupid Stacey Renwick says, and I got his to use for school."

"Okay." Phil said slowly.

"It's what's _inside_ that's special." Skye smiled.

"And what's inside?" Phil prompted, reaching out to touch the bag as Skye placed it next to her others.

She slapped his hand away, though not particularly hard but it made a noise that resounded around the living room. It was just a 'warning slap' like Sister Margaret sometimes gave when Skye was acting up.

"None of your damn business." She said, moving the bag further away from Phil.

For a second, it looked as though Phil was going to begin laughing, but then Melinda's hand tightened slightly on Skye's and she looked up to see a terrifying 'serious' expression on the woman's face. When Skye looked back down to Phil, he too shared the expression.

She was in trouble.

"I'm sorry." Skye said without prompting. Expressions like that indicated an apology was needed quickly in order to diffuse the situation. Skye had plenty of experience when it came to saying 'sorry' first and hoping for the best. "I'm very sorry."

"And what are you sorry for?" Melinda asked, no longer look scary but still serious, and Skye paled.

She had no idea.

"Er…I'm, I-," Skye stuttered, looking up at the woman. "I'm just sorry for doing the bad thing." The little girl settled on.

Melinda's expression softened minutely and she crouched down to Skye's level.

"Tell me why you're sorry, Skye." She instructed.

Skye looked over to Phil, hoping for some sort of clue, but Melinda put a gentle finger on her cheek to bring her gaze back to her. The woman raised her brows in question.

"I'm sorry because you're mad at me." Skye said, biting her bottom lip nervously, a bad habit she'd picked up at some point after foster home number seven. Mr and Mrs Dawson; they had been shouters.

"I'm not mad at you, Skye." Melinda said. "But you did do something that Phil and I don't approve of. Can you maybe think back to what that could be?"

Skye nibbled on her bottom lip as she thought. She had said 'damn' but that wasn't even a real swear word. The kids at the orphanage said way worse than that for stupider reasons. She had hit Phil's hand, but not hard and he'd deserved it anyway, making out like he was going to touch her stuff. But maybe Phil and Melinda didn't like things like that. Hitting in any capacity _was _naughty and Skye knew that. She berated herself in her head; of _course _hitting was bad, of _course _swearing was bad. She was bad. Skye was being bad and difficult and Phil and Melinda were going to send her back already.

"I'm sorry." Skye gasped, looking to Phil with wide, wet eyes and trembling lips. "I'm so sorry for hitting you, Phil." A sob escaped her throat as Skye looked back over at Melinda. "Please don't make me go back yet. _Please _let me stay a little longer." She was crying now, properly, and embarrassingly. Skye didn't want to go back to the orphanage yet. Not yet.

"Oh, little one," Melinda sighed, reaching out to cup Skye's cheek, "we're not sending you back. Not now, not ever."

Skye sobbed again, and it only took a gentle encouragement of a hand on her back from Melinda, before Skye was throwing herself in the woman's arms, wrapping her own skinny arms around her neck. The little girl pressed her face in Melinda's neck and cried.

What she was really crying for, Skye wasn't entirely sure. Relief that they weren't going to throw her out? Possibly. Guilt for hitting Phil; maybe? Or maybe it was jut because she was a rotten kid in care, an orphan that no one had ever put up with when the going got tough, and being able to hug Melinda, have Melinda hug her back, felt overwhelmingly wonderful.

"Come on, it's okay." Melinda soothed, and lifted Skye off her feet. She wrapped her legs around the woman's waist in an automatic response and Melinda rocked her like a baby, bouncing her and shushing her like Skye couldn't remember anyone having done before.

Hugs were really nice. Melinda's hugs felt really, really nice.

Skye felt Phil approach from the side and she shifted her position in Melinda's arms so that she could look at him. She had to let go of Melinda with one arm to wipe the tears from her eyes in order to see him properly, but Melinda tightened her own arms around Skye to keep her stable.

"I'm sorry I hit you, Phil." She hiccupped.

Phil wiped a few more stray tears from her cheeks and smiled at her, far more kindly than she felt she deserved.

"I forgive you, Skye." He said. "I forgive you, okay?"

Skye dropped her head to lean on Melinda's chest. She was still rocking her.

"I'm sorry I was bad." She whispered to both of them.

Melinda kissed the top of her head. "You weren't bad. You just made a bad decision, and now you're sorry and you're forgiven, so it's all over." She tilted Skye's face up to look her in the eye with a finger under her chin. "Choosing to hit, and to swear, are bad decisions. But we forgive you. Don't we?"

"Of course we forgive you." Phil nodded.

"So, now, we can move past this, and hopefully, next time you'll make a better decision. Huh?"

"I'll be good." Skye said.

"All we ask is that you try." Phil said.

Skye looked between the two of them, the man who was being so kind to her and the woman who held her lovingly in her arms, even though they'd only known her hours. They had no reason to be so nice to her. What was she? Skye was nothing but a scruffy orphan with little going for her.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Because," Melinda said, "you've had a lot of bad experiences," she rubbed Skye's back as she rocked her, "and you've been so brave, and you deserve a family."

"You deserve better, Skye." Phil reiterated. He rubbed a hand over the back of her head. "We want to give you better."

Skye sucked her thumb. Back at St Agnes' she got shouted at or ridiculed for sucking her thumb, but it made the crying stop and the tight feeling in her tummy dissipate slightly, and anyway, Melinda and Phil didn't seem to mind.

Melinda walked over to the couch and sat down, settling Skye on her lap and stroking back the little girl's dark hair. She could probably feel the tangles, Skye thought; she hadn't bothered to brush it that morning. Usually when someone was touching her hair it hurt. In the orphanage it was either being pulled or snagged or having a hairbrush raked through it, but the way Melinda touched her hair made Skye feel all calm and sleepy. She closed her eyes.

Skye opened them again when the sofa dipped next to her, and Phil smiled gently, holding a tattered-looking, but brightly coloured book.

"How about we have a story?" He said.

"M'too old for picture books." Skye grumbled around her thumb, well aware that in her position on Melinda's lap with a thumb in her mouth, she was hardly too old for anything.

"Well I'm not." Phil smiled. "I got this book when I was seven years old."

"Long time ago." Skye commented, noting the worn spine and slightly crumpled edges of the pages.

"Yeah, because I'm _so _old. And I loved it when I was seven, and I still love it now, so I'm going to read it, and you can listen if you want."

Skye looked over at the picture of the superhero on the first page as Phil smoothed his hand over the page. She recognised the figure, with his blue and red costume and the white star on his chest.

"Who's that?" She asked, pointing to the figure.

"_Who's that?_" Phil repeated her, an exaggerated expression of shock on his face. "Oh, Skye, you have so much to learn."

Melinda snorted. "Oh, boy. Get ready for a history lesson, little one."

Phil continued, ignoring his wife. "This, dear child, is the great Captain America."

"Phil is in _love _with Captain America." Melinda teased.

The title rang a bell in Skye's mind, but nothing concrete settled itself in her consciousness. Her blank look only seemed to spur on Phil, and his enthusiasm made her smile around her thumb.

"Captain America is a war hero. A national gem." Phil's face went serious, making Skye smile even more. "He is the greatest superhero of all time."

Skye giggled, taking her thumb away from her mouth. "Kay."

"Kay? _Kay? _That's all you have to say on the matter?" Phil shook his head and turned his attention back to the first page of the book. "The man is a national hero."

"He's also not real." Melinda laughed.

"Don't listen to her, Skye. He's totally real."

Skye nodded and shifted on Melinda's lap so that that she could see the pictures properly. She leaned her head back on Melinda's shoulder, thumb making its way back to her mouth.

"I wanna hear the story, now." Skye said, and Phil settled closer to Melinda, propping the book up between them.

"Okay." He said. "Now listen up, little one, as I regale you with the tale of the greatest superhero to ever walk this earth."

…

As Phil read the story of Captain America and his quest to defeat the evil Red Skull, Melinda stroked Skye's dark hair, letting her own mind wander, Phil's voice washing over her with the all too familiar story. Phil's book had been read to, or by, practically every one of the kids who had come through their house over the years. It seemed to relax the frightened little ones, and calm down the angsty teens. Even the most unlikely of kids had taken to the book, including a firety-tempered, fourteen year old, Natasha Romanoff, still haunted by a Cold War she was far too young to experience.

Like Phil, Melinda could recite that book word for word, as could both of their daughters. Captain America certainly made the rounds in the Coulson household.

On her lap, Skye made a little sleepy noise around her thumb. Melinda rubbed her back, relishing in the feeling of the little girl burrowing closer to her chest. It had been so long since she'd had a little one to cuddle, and yes, her two adult daughters still counted as 'little ones'.

Her and Phil had been talking about having another child in the house since before Natasha had left for college over a year ago. For that length of time they'd been searching for a child to take in and give a better life.

They had seen Skye's story purely by accident, when reading through some other files of children who lived at St. Agnes'. A name kept popping up in many of the kids' behavioural reports, over and over, consistently involved in any trouble over the years.

"_After being provoked by Mary Sue Poots, David then..."_

"_Stacey claims the fight was started by another girl, Mary Sue, who…"_

"_Andrew and Joshua claim the game was broken by Mary Sue Poots, though she denies any involvement. All three will receive punishment in the form of a week of extra chores and…"_

Out of curiosity, Phil had requested the file of a certain 'Mary Sue Poots' from Abby, and after reading through the little girl's life history, both came to the conclusion that this was the little girl for them. Both of them had soft spots for the kids with some personality.

Melinda had only read Skye's file last week, seen some photographs of her a day later, and then had a meeting scheduled with Abby, regarding the logistics, the day after that. She rubbed a hand up and down Skye's arm and smiled over at Phil, who continued to read with enthusiasm, doing all the characters' voices and making Skye giggle. Melinda was damn glad they had made the decision to bring Skye home.

It was an unexplainable feeling she felt when she cuddled Skye; a feeling that Melinda had only felt with three other people in her life. She had married one of those people and the other two were now her daughters. It just felt _right_. Skye being a part of their family was _right._

Phil paused in his reading and when Melinda looked over to him, he was smiling at Skye. She looked down to notice the little girl's eyes drooping shut.

"You want to take a nap?" Phil asked Skye, but the little girl opened her eyes and shook her head.

"Keep reading the story." She said. "Please." Skye added as what seemed to be an afterthought.

"Okay." Phil began to read again.

Skye looked up to Melinda with wide eyes. The little girl said nothing, but took her hand away from her mouth and gently ran a finger along Melinda's cheekbone. Melinda stayed still, allowing Skye to gently trace her features, before Skye looked back over to the book, put her thumb back in her mouth and hooked her fingers over her nose, rubbing the bridge soothingly.

Children were fascinating things, and this one, Melinda was sure, belonged in their family.

…

Phil never made it to the end of the book before Skye was sleeping soundly in Melinda's arms. He stopped reading once it became obvious that Skye's heavy breathing was an indication she was no longer listening to him. He closed the book and leaned forward to put it on the coffee table. Melinda smiled at him in the way that made him tingle.

"We made the right decision." He announced quietly, brushing back some of Skye's hair and wrapping an arm around Mel's shoulders.

"Yeah, we did." Melinda agreed.

"She's going to be hard work, this one." Phil grinned. "Why don't we ever pick the easy kids?"

"Because then we'd be bored out of our minds, and anyway," she pressed a kiss to Skye's hair and the little girl's arm tightened around her in her sleep, "I think the kids pick us."

Phil kissed Mel's cheek, smiling. "Wait until we tell Tasha we might have a little one with a temper that could rival hers."

Melinda snorted. "Yeah right. I know what Skye's file said, but even she never punched a nun in the face. I think we can safely say, Nat's place as 'most aggressive child' is not being rivalled at this point."

"God," Phil sniggered, "a teenager punches _one_ nun in the face and suddenly they're aggressive."

"Hey, I stand by my little girl." Melinda said. "Nat was perfectly justified in that punch, and anyway she hasn't been in fight since high school. Nat's fine now."

"And Skye will be, too."

"Mmm." Mel touched Skye's cheek. "She will be." She looked back over at Phil. "We won't give up on her."

"Never. We know that, we just have to make sure she believes it, too." He sighed. "I know I've asked this so many times before about so many kids, but, how could _anyone _have let all this crap happen to this little one?"

Melinda shrugged and smiled at him sadly. She answered in the same way she had when he'd asked about all the other kids they'd ever cared for. Bobbi, Natasha, Trip, even Clint, and all of the many others they'd taken into emergency care for days at a time. Phil knew it broke her heart to say it as much as it broke his to hear it. "I just don't know."

…

When Skye woke up with her face pressed against the unfamiliar material of a couch, it took her a moment to stamp down on the panic that arose, and to remind herself of where she was.

She was in her new home with her new foster parents. Phil and Melinda.

For a second, Skye worried that they had left her all alone, and she began thinking of the bad things she could have done to make them mad, but when she turned over to face away from the back of the couch, Melinda was sitting on the coffee table, smiling gently.

"Hey, sleepy head." She said. "You've had a pretty long nap."

Skye pushed herself up to a sitting position and rubbed at her eyes. She felt a little too hot and a little like she wanted to lay down again, but instead she pushed her hair away from her face and looked back at Melinda.

"You feeling a little better?" The woman asked, and Skye felt her cheeks heat up at the memory of crying in front of Phil and Melinda, only seconds after being let into their house.

But now that she thought about it, she did kind of feel better. She couldn't remember the last time she had been allowed to nap during the day.

Skye nodded. "Bit better."

"Good. You hungry, sweetie? Phil's making dinner."

Skye was hungry. _Really _hungry now that Melinda had brought her attention the empty feeing in her tummy. Again, she nodded.

Melinda stood and held out both arms. "Come on, then."

Skye stood up and eyed Melinda's arms curiously. Sometimes grown ups held out their hand so you would hold it, especially when they thought you might run away, but she wasn't sure what Melinda was asking her to do. At her pause, Melinda took the initiative and lifted Skye up onto her hip, holding her there in the living room for a moment, and kissing her cheek.

"Let's get you some dinner."

Skye wanted to tell her that she didn't need to be carried to the kitchen and that she was too old for that, but she didn't. Melinda carried her through the house and to the kitchen and Skye stayed quiet and wrapped her arms around Melinda's neck.

Hugs were nice.

"Hey, you're up." Phil said when they entered the room.

Skye looked around as Melinda sat her on the island in the centre of the room, smelling whatever Phil was cooking. She wasn't sure what it was, but smelled really good and Skye's tummy grumbled loudly.

"Hungry?" Phil grinned.

"Mm hm." Skye said, swinging her legs off the side of the counter.

"I guess you were tired." Phil said, picking up a pan and flicking it so that all the vegetables inside were tossed in the air before landing neatly back on the slate. "You slept for a long time."

"Sorry." Skye said automatically and Phil shook his head.

"No, don't be sorry. You were tired and you took a nap, that's a good thing." He assured her.

"Kay." She said, unconvinced.

Melinda went to the fridge and came back with a juice box, handing it to Skye. It was an apple one. Skye's favourite, well except for soda, but she was never allowed soda anymore.

She knew for a fact that somewhere in her file that there was a page that said soda made Skye _"Hyperactive and difficult to control" _because she had seen Abby writing it after she once climbed to the very top of the jungle gym at a birthday party when she lived with Mr and Mrs Jackson, and wouldn't come down even when they shouted at her.

Mr and Mrs Jackson took her back to St. Agnes' the next day because they said she was too difficult to cope with, and no one listened to Skye when she tried to explain that she had been too scared of heights to climb down from the jungle gym on her own. Abby had been angry with Skye after Mr and Mrs Jackson had brought her back, even if she never said it, the way she looked at Skye and sighed and mumbled in the office meant that Skye could tell. Abby always got a little angry when Skye messed up.

Mind on the train of thought of going back to St. Agnes' Skye asked, "How long do I get to stay with you guys?"

Melinda frowned at her and Phil stopped stirring something to peer at Skye.

"What do you mean?" Melinda asked.

Skye shifted under their gazes and looked down at her juice box, fiddling with the straw. "Just, I wanted to know for how long do I get to stay with you before you make me go back." She looked back up at them. "Sometimes I think it might be longer than it is." She thought back to the Jacksons and them dropping her at the door just an hour after she'd woken up in a bed she'd been sleeping in for almost a month.

"Honey," Melinda said gently, putting her hand on Skye's cheek, "For as long as you want to, you're staying with Phil and I." She stroked Skye's cheek with her thumb. "I meant what I said before, we're never going to take you back, no matter what you do."

Skye frowned, studying Melinda's face. She had a nice face, a kind face, an honest expression made Skye want to believe her. She really, _really _wanted to. But it was hard to trust anyone, never mind someone she had only met that day.

"Do you believe us?" Phil asked, crossing the room to stand next to Melinda.

"No." Skye said honestly.

"You will." Melinda smiled. "One day, you're going to believe us when we tell you that we'll never leave you. Bobbi and Nat didn't used to believe us when they first arrived, but they know now. We'll never leave you. I promise." She smiled and crouched down slightly to rub her nose against Skye's.

Skye laughed, copying Melinda and shaking her head side to side to brush their noses. "You'll never ever leave me no matter how bad I am?" Skye asked, face touching Melinda's.

"I promise that no matter how many bad decisions you make, no matter what you do, or what you say, as long as you want to be in our family, you _will _be in our family."

Skye leaned back on the counter so that Melinda could stand up straight, and so that she could look at Phil. He was nodding along with Melinda's words.

"I'll try to believe you." Skye said to both of them. "I'll try because…" she looked away, out of the kitchen window where it was already dark outside and the streetlamps had come on. "…because I want a family." Skye felt her cheeks get hot and she chewed her lip. She dared to look back at Phil and Melinda.

They were smiling at her.

"We'll be your family, Skye." Phil said. "If you would like us to be."

Skye looked between them, and thought back to her other foster homes. This would be her tenth. Her tenth in eight years. Of those ten, Skye had clear memories of exactly five, not including this one, all five of which ended with her being dumped back at the orphanage with varying empty apologies and even more unpleasant experiences under her belt.

No one, in all of her homes, had ever been as kind as Phil and Melinda. No one had ever been as caring or loving in all the time she had ever spent with foster parents, as these two had been in the short time she had spent with them.

Kids in care tended to suffer from one of two fatal flaws; they didn't trust, or they trusted too easily. Skye had flitted between the two, depending on the family, but the fact of the matter was, no matter what her feeling, she had always been let down. Always. And it was no one else's fault but her own, no matter what anyone said, it _must _be Skye's fault; ten homes, nine of which had ended badly because of her.

It was only a matter of time before she did something to end number ten and make Phil and Melinda so mad that they wouldn't want her anymore.

But Skye did want a family. She tried so hard to be good, because more than anything she just wanted a family. A family like the other kids at school had, with mommies and daddies and brothers and sisters who all loved each other. Skye wanted that.

Skye _really_ wanted that.

"Yes." She said quietly. "I'd like to be in your family."

Phil beamed at her and Melinda lifted her off the counter and hugged her tightly. Skye hugged her back and pressed her face into Melinda's shoulder, closing her eyes.

Yes. She'd be a part of this family for a while. And she'd try really, _really _hard to be so good, that they would want to keep her around, just like Bobbi and Natasha.

Skye would try _so _hard.

**A/N: Review please! Let me know what you think. xxx**


	4. Skye's Tantrum

Phil and Melinda had a dining room with a large oak table in the centre of the room, and high-backed chairs surrounding it. It was so clean and tidy, it looked almost unused, which according to Melinda was true. They only ever used the room on particularly special occasions, like Christmas, or when they had lots of people over.

While Phil finished up making dinner, Melinda had taken Skye from room to room in the downstairs of the house, showing off the other rooms she hadn't seen. A poky laundry room on the side of the kitchen, a downstairs bathroom in the hall, the dining room with the big table, and the room Skye was most interested in seeing, the room Melinda introduced as the 'Playroom'.

Technically, Melinda said, the playroom had been intended by the builders of the house to be a second living room, but after having so many children living with them, over the years the room had become the central hub for the kids to hang out in, whether they were three years old or twenty-five. All the kids loved the playroom.

The door to the playroom was closed when Melinda led Skye to it, but she could have easily identified the room as special compared to the others in the house. For one, the wooden door had been covered in various pictures and photographs, some in frames, some looking as though they had been haphazardly tacked to the door. But what gave the room away most, were the glittery letters in the centre of the door, helpfully spelling out 'playroom' in primary colours.

Skye let go of Melinda's hand and stepped forward to inspect the pictures and photographs more closely. Some of them, she was too short to see properly, but the ones at eye level were just as interesting.

A drawing of two figures who looked suspiciously like Melinda and Phil and of a young boy with a soccer ball at the centre of them was labelled in neat childish script: _by Trip, age 10._

Another drawing, more artistic than the one by 'Trip' was in a frame and securely attached to the door. This one depicted an impressive ink sketch of two girls' faces, pressed closed together with smirks on their lips. There was tiny writing at the bottom corner, and Skye took her time to spell out the words in her head. It read: _Sisters, by Bobbi Morse-Coulson. _

Skye dared to trace the two girls' faces over the glass of the frame with her finger. "Your Bobbi drew that?" She asked, getting even closer to the door to see the tiny pen strokes on the picture.

"She did." Melinda said from behind her. "A few years ago. She copied off a photograph."

Skye turned around to look at Melinda. "She's _really_ good at drawing."

"I know. In fact, the photograph she copied off is up there." Melinda nodded to somewhere on the door above Skye's head.

Skye stepped back to look up at the photograph, again in a frame and nailed to the door. Practically the same image from Bobbi's drawing looked back at her, only this time in colour and far more detail. Two girls, one blonde and the other with bright red hair, were smiling at each other rather than at the camera. Skye smiled; she couldn't help it.

"They're very pretty." She said, standing on her tiptoes to see the girls better.

"Here." Melinda said and lifted Skye onto her hip so that she could see the picture better.

The girls' faces took up the entire frame, only a little bit of background visible.

"Who are they?" Skye asked.

Melinda smiled at her. "Can you guess who they might be?" She asked.

Skye could. "Bobbi and Natasha?"

"Spot on, little one." Melinda kissed her nose and turned back to the photograph. "_That's _Bobbi." She pointed to the blonde girl. "And _that's _Nat." She pointed to the redhead.

"Sisters." Skye mumbled.

She didn't mean for Melinda to hear her, but the woman said, "Yeah. Sisters."

While Melinda was holding her, Skye took the opportunity to look at the other drawings and photographs on the door near the top. One in particular caught her eye and made her giggle. A pretty accurate drawing of Captain America stood out on stark white paper, but the face of the drawing had been replaced with a small photograph cut-out of Phil's face.

"Who did that one?" Skye laughed, pointing to the 'Captain Phil'.

"Oh," Melinda smirked, "that's courtesy of Hunter." She pointed to the top of the picture where the words: _by Lance Hunter, age 24 ¾, _was scrawled. "He likes to think he's funny."

"I think he's funny." Skye grinned at the picture.

"I'll let him know." Melinda said and pointed to another photograph, this one tacked to the door by the handle, a little crumpled where the doorknob was, but otherwise clear. "There he is with Bob."

Skye squirmed and Melinda put her back down so she could crouch by the doorknob and look at the photo. Bobbi, older than she looked than in the photograph with Natasha, but no less beautiful, grinned into the camera, getting a piggy-back ride from Hunter. He too was grinning, though his eyes were on Bobbi, head turned to look at her as he held her legs and her arms wrapped around his neck.

"It says 'Lance' on the picture." Skye said. "Hunter is his last name?" She asked.

"Yeah. Most people just call him Hunter."

"Hmm." Skye said, looking back at the photo. "He's Bobbi's boyfriend?"

"He is." Melinda said. "They live in England, that's where Hunter's from."

Skye turned back to Melinda with a frown. Natasha lived in DC with the President, that's what they'd said when they were in the car. Bobbi lived in England. Now, Skye wasn't sure how far away those places were, but England was _definitely _a different country.

"That's very far away." She said, and Melinda nodded in agreement. "Do you miss her a lot?"

"I do miss her very much, and Natasha, too." Melinda said, and to Skye's horror, she looked sad.

"I made you sad." Skye frowned, guilt settling in the pit of her stomach. "Don't be sad, Mel, I'm sorry."

Melinda opened her mouth to say something, but Skye was scared it was going to be something sad, so she rushed forward before Melinda got the chance and hugged her around the middle, pressing her face in to her stomach.

"Don't be sad." Skye said, although it came out muffled against Mel's shirt.

Skye felt Melinda's hand stroke the back of her head, and her stomach quiver slightly, in what Skye was thrilled to realise, was laughter. She looked up at her, keeping her arms around the woman.

"You're okay, right?" Skye asked. "Even though I made you miss Bobbi and Natasha?"

"I'm _fine_." Melinda assured her. "Skye, you didn't make me sad, I always miss my babies, but I'm not sad."

"You're not?"

"No." She pushed Skye's hair behind her shoulders. "And you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because, I've got another baby now." She smiled and stroked Skye's cheek.

Skye cocked her head to one side in thought. "Who?" She asked. Skye had been promised she was the only kid in the house, if Phil and Melinda had other kids running around, she wasn't sure if she would be wanted like they'd promised.

Melinda laughed and knelt on the ground. Like that she was just as tall as Skye, and she took Skye's hands and wrapped them around her neck, rubbing little circles on the back of her hand with her thumbs.

"_You're_ my new baby, silly." Mel grinned.

"Oh." Skye said. "I am?"

"Well, only if you want to be."

Skye thought about it. Back at the orphanage, some of the older girls she had shared a room with, made fun of her and called her a baby all the time. They laughed and called her a baby and it made Skye feel horrible inside, but the way Melinda said it, it like being a baby was a nice thing.

"I'm not a baby, though." Skye said, suddenly concerned Phil and Mel wouldn't want her if they realised she was too big. "I'm _eight _you know."

"Honey," Mel smiled, stroking Skye's hands, "Natasha is nineteen and Bobbi is twenty five and they're _still _my baby girls. Age eight definitely qualifies you to be my baby girl, if you want to be."

"What do I have to do to be the baby?" Skye asked, now suddenly more inclined to take up this position, now that she knew Phil and Melinda's daughters, too, were the babies.

"You don't have to do anything." Mel assured her. "You just need to be you. Just be Skye."

"I can do that."

"I know you can, you're awesome at it."

Skye grinned at her and accepted Melinda's offered high-five with enthusiasm. She was pretty awesome at being Skye; certainly more awesome than she was at being _Mary Sue Poots_, but Phil and Mel didn't seem to expect her to be that person.

"Oh," Mel said, grabbing Skye's attention, "there is _one _thing you have to do in order to be one of my babies."

"What's that?"

Melinda stood up, picking Skye up with her and hugging her tightly. "You have to give me lots and lots of cuddles!"

Skye laughed and squealed as Melinda tickled her sides and pressed kisses all over her face, making exaggerated kissy noises.

"Do you think you can be one of the babies?" Mel asked, continuing to tickle Skye.

"Yes!" Skye laughed.

"You _sure?_" Melinda blew a raspberry onto Skye's cheek.

"_Yes!" _Skye squealed.

"Okay then." Melinda placed Skye back onto her feet, grinning down at her. "Then it's settled. Welcome to the family, baby girl."

Skye smiled dizzily, stumbling slightly on her feet after all of the laughing. She glanced back at the decorated door of the playroom, eyes immediately drawn to Bobbi and Natasha's faces, who smiled back at her in various photographs.

"_Guys, it's ready." _Phil called from the kitchen and Skye looked away from Bobbi and Natasha, back to Melinda.

She held out her hand to Skye. "Come on, let's get some food."

Skye took Mel's hand and followed her back through the house, into the kitchen, a little mad that she hadn't got the chance to look around the playroom.

"I promise you can hang out in the playroom for a little while later, okay?" Melinda said as if she had literally read Skye's mind.

"Kay." She replied, letting Melinda help her up onto one of the tall chairs surrounding the kitchen island.

Plates had been set out at three sittings on the island, and Melinda went to the fringe and poured a glass of juice to set by Skye's plate.

"What do you say?" Melinda smiled, nodding towards the juice.

Skye paused, unsure what she meant.

"Ttthhh…" Melinda sounded out until the words she was looking for dawned on Skye.

"Oh! _Thank you_, for my juice." She said, feeling her cheeks get a little hot. Manners, Skye scolded herself, she should have known that. Sister Jane was always telling them how mommies and daddies like children who had good manners. "Thank you, Mel." Skye repeated for good measure.

"You're very welcome, Skye."

Phil spooned some type of stir-fry onto their plates, pausing over Skye's shoulder to give her a quick kiss on the top of her head.

"_Thank you_, Phil." She smiled.

"You're welcome, Skye." He put the left overs, over by the hob, and came back around to sit at the island beside Skye. "Did you get a good look around the house?" Phil asked, beginning to dig in to his dinner.

Skye watched as Phil ate, then looked over to where Melinda was pouring glasses of water for her and Phil by the fridge. She picked up her fork but didn't touch her food. Melinda put the jug of water back in the fridge and kicked the door shut, bringing the glasses over to the island.

"Skye?" She asked, sitting down on the other side of her.

"Yes?"

"You want to start eating?" Mel smiled, picking up her own fork. "I promise Phil is a good cook."

Skye grinned at Phil and eagerly began shovelling the food into her mouth. "I thought I should wait 'till you said I could." She said, taking another mouthful. "This is good."

"Why thank you." Phil laughed. "I'm glad you approve of my cooking."

"Compliments to the chef." Melinda said, smiling.

"So, Skye. _Did_ you get to see the rest of the house?"

Skye shrugged and began answering with a mouthful of noodles. "Mm hmm, but not the-,"

"Chew and swallow please." Phil said.

Skye hastily swallowed the food, but pulled the plate closer to her as she spoke. "I didn't get to see the inside of the playroom, though." She huffed and sucked up some more noodles messily.

"Oh, you're missing out!" Phil laughed. "The playroom is _awesome_."

Skye's face fell. "It _is_?" He nodded, still smiling as she turned to Melinda. "You promised I could see it later. Right?"

Mel smiled, taking a sip of water. "Right."

Skye relaxed. "Cool." She stabbed at some chicken with her fork a few times, the food falling off continuously, until Skye put down her cutlery and used her hands instead. "I saw the door, though." She said with her mouth full.

Phil tapped her shoulder and Skye tipped her head to look over at him, her hair dipping into the food. He rolled his eyes fondly and reached over to pull back her hair and tuck it into her t-shirt's collar.

"Try not to talk with your mouth full, okay?" He said.

She nodded, picking up some noodles with her fingers and shoving them into her mouth, wiping the sauce off her cheeks with her hand.

Melinda pulled Skye's plate further onto the island. "Slow down, baby." She said. "There's no rush. Eat too fast and you'll get a tummy ache."

"I _never _get tummy aches." Skye boasted, making the effort to swallow her mouthful of food before talking. "Never, ever, ever."

"Despite that," Phil smiled, "why don't you slow down, let Mel and I keep up." He passed her the fork.

Skye nodded, taking the fork, and paused before taking her next bite. She stabbed some chicken on the fork and picked it off her utensil, popping it into her mouth with her fingers, chewing slowly. Eating slowly was hard. Back at St. Agnes', if she didn't eat quickly, someone would finish her food for her.

"So," Phil continued, "you saw our playroom door? Impressive, huh?"

"I liked it." Skye smiled. "It has lots of drawings on it."

"Yeah. Some of those drawings have been there for a very long time."

"I liked Bobbi's drawing best." She murmured, looking to Melinda. "The one of the photograph."

"_Sisters._" Melinda said, and Phil nodded in acknowledgement. "You like drawing?" She asked.

Skye shrugged. She used to like colouring, a long time ago when she lived with Miss Macy. She had bought Skye lots of colouring things, and paints, and glitter glue. Skye had even made her a special card once that had taken her a very long time because she had had to wait for all of the glitter glue to dry before she could write on it, and Miss Macy had even put it up on the fridge, but then…well, sometimes she got made when Skye was bad.

And one day Skye was _very _bad and Miss Macy had shouted at her and Skye had shouted back and it was hard to remember exactly what had happened, but Miss Macy had ripped up the card. Skye had got in a lot of trouble and Abby had even come to Miss Macy's house because she had been so bad. Hitting was _always _bad, Abby had said to Skye. After that, Miss Macy didn't want Skye anymore. Abby had taken her back to St. Agnes' with her, and Skye had had to leave all of her new things at the house.

Skye didn't really like colouring anymore.

"You could maybe make a picture to go on the playroom door?" Phil suggested.

"I'm not good like Bobbi." Skye mumbled. There was no food left on her plate, but she used the fork to draw patterns in the sauce.

"Oh, honey, it doesn't matter how good you are." Phil said gently.

Skye frowned and looked up at Phil. "What's it about then?"

"Well, what about how much effort you put in?" He said.

She thought back to the card she had made for Miss Macy. Skye couldn't imagine Phil and Melinda ripping down her drawings and putting them in the trash, but then, when she had first moved in with Miss Macy, she hadn't imaged her being like that either.

"I guess." Skye shrugged, and looked back to her empty plate. She didn't want to talk about drawing anymore, it made her belly feel all tight and made her want to suck her thumb. "I saw Natasha and Bobbi's photo." She said to change the subject.

"You did?" Phil asked.

"And Hunter." Melinda said with a smirk, standing and collecting all three of their plates. "Tell Phil what else you saw on the door." She dumped the plates in the sink and turned on the taps.

"What else did you see?"

"She saw Hunter's artwork."

Phil's face fell as Skye's grin widened.

"Captain Phil-merica!" Skye shouted, laughing.

"You suck, Mel." Phil groaned. "We need to take that down."

"No!" Skye shook her head. "It's so cool. You're a superhero, Phil. You can save the world."

"See," Mel said, putting the rinsed dishes into the dishwasher, "Skye loved super-Phil."

Phil shook his head. "I suppose if Skye likes it, it'll have to stay up there."

"Yay! Captain Phil!" Skye jumped down from her seat to run around the kitchen singing an improvised theme song for Phil. Just as she was reaching a crescendo featuring the lyrics 'He can fly because he's the guy!', Skye was captured by Melinda. "Hey!" Skye protested, wiggling half-heartedly in her grasp.

"Sorry, super-girl, but you've got more food on your face and hands than you have in your tummy." Melinda wiped her hands with a damp cloth and Skye stopped struggling to obediently let her clean her up.

"You've also got plenty of dinner in your hair." Phil commented, walking over to them and picking at the tendrils of crusty hair that has escaped from her collar. "Super-girl needs a bath before bedtime."

"Yes," Mel agreed, "I think a bath is a good idea."

"But you _promised _I could go in the playroom." Skye whined, stamping her foot. "You _promised." _She said angrily, throwing herself onto the floor in protest. "You can't make me take a bath."

Melinda passed Phil the cloth and he took it, leaving Skye's line of sight to presumably return it to the sink. Somewhere else in the house, the phone rang but Melinda didn't acknowledge it and it stopped after a couple of rings. Mel got down on the floor in front of Skye.

"M'not going in the bath, so _there_." Skye grumbled. She wanted to go in the playroom, not the bath. Going in the bath always meant going to bed. Skye didn't want to go to bed. "I wanna go play!" Skye kicked her legs at nothing.

The uncontrollable anger began bubbling over inside Skye and she slapped her hands down on the tiled floor, making them sting. She doubled over, pressing her forehead into the ground and shouted loudly. "No going! No!"

Skye sat up to see Melinda sat across from her and watching quietly. Skye made a few more angry noises and a long drawn out, frustrated squeal. "No bath! I'm not going in the bath. No!" An angry tear escaped Skye's eye and Melinda reached out to wipe it away. The little girl whimpered and scrubbed at her eyes.

"Shh." Melinda said gently. "You all finished with your tantrum?"

Skye huffed and crossed her arms over her chest grumpily. She didn't feel like being angry anymore. She was too tired now. "Yes." She squeaked, looking away.

"Okay, then." Melinda said. "Look at me."

Skye turned her head even further away, almost craning her neck enough to look at the cabinets behind her.

"Make a good decision, Skye. Look at me, please."

Skye had been bad. She could make good decisions. She _could. _Skye looked at Melinda warily, but the woman didn't look mad, just neutral. In fact, Melinda was so calm, that Skye was beginning to wonder if she was even really paying attention to her.

"Are you finished with your tantrum?" She asked again.

Skye nodded sheepishly.

"Tell me." Melinda said. "Tell me that you're all finished."

"I'm all finished." Skye said.

"Okay then. I'm going to talk, and you're going to listen to me." Melinda said. "You're not in charge, Skye, and if either Phil or I tell you to do something, you do it."

She paused and Skye nodded, assuming Melinda was waiting for some type of confirmation that Skye understood.

"Now," Mel continued, "I made you a promise that you could have some time in the playroom tonight, and I intended to keep that promise, however, after you chose to get angry and have a tantrum, I'm not sure that's a good idea."

Skye looked down at her hands. "Sometimes I can't help it."

"Can't help what?"

"Getting mad." Skye mumbled.

Melinda rubbed Skye's knee. She looked up at the woman and Melinda gestured for her to move closer. When Skye was within reach, Melinda pulled her onto her lap and tucked Skye's head under her chin.

"I know it's hard, baby. Sometimes it's easier to get angry than it is to do anything else, but you've got to try, okay?" She rocked Skye gently and stroked her back. "You've got to try and stay calm, because that temper is going to get you into trouble."

It already had. Skye had gotten herself into hot water more times than she count because her anger had gotten out of hand. She cuddled in closer to Melinda and rubbed her thumb back and fourth over her lips.

"How about we make a deal?" Melinda asked.

"What kind of a deal?" Skye retorted.

"If you're good, and you take a bath and get ready for bed, all without making any bad decisions and throwing tantrums, then you can play in the playroom for half an hour before bed. How does that sound?"

That all sounded pretty good to Skye. After throwing a fit like that, she had expected Melinda and Phil to march her off to bed immediately, and to ban her from the playroom altogether.

"I can be good." She said, pulling back to look Mel in the eye properly. "I'm not lying," Skye clarified, "I _can _be good."

"I believe you." Melinda smiled. "You're a good girl, Skye. You _are_."

"M'sorry I got mad." Skye said. And she really was. She didn't like getting angry anymore than anyone else liked dealing with an angry Skye.

"You're forgiven, baby." Melinda kissed Skye on the head and gave her a long squeeze. Skye hugged her back, feeling much better now that she knew Melinda wasn't mad. "Come on then, bath time."

Melinda and Skye left the kitchen and walked through the living room, hand in hand, towards the stairs. Phil was lounging on the recliner armchair as they passed, talking on the phone. He gave them a little smile and a wave as they passed.

"Okay, honey, I'll tell her." He said, making a subtle gesture with one hand, causing Melinda to halt her and Skye's progress to the stairs. "I'll get her to call you back later tonight…yeah...okay" he smiled, "…okay, bubba I love you. Give Clint a hug from me…yeah…yes…okay. I love you, honey. Bye…bye." Phil put the phone on the arm of the chair and turned to Melinda and Skye. "All okay?" He asked, looking between the two.

Mel looked down at Skye and squeezed her hand. "Yeah, we're all good." She looked back to Phil. "Nat?"

"Yeah. Good news." Phil grinned.

"Oh?"

"Her classes got cancelled for next week, something about the scheduled protests at the White House." He shrugged. "Anyway, Clint managed to get the time off of work, and so they're flying out here Friday, gonna stay for the whole week and fly back on the Sunday."

"That's great!" Melinda grinned. "Oh, I've missed my bubba." She said.

"Natasha is coming here?" Skye asked Phil.

"And Clint. For over a week! And she's very excited to meet you, Skye."

"She is? Why?" In her ample experience, Skye generally thought existing children of foster parents were less than thrilled when a new child turned up.

Phil laughed. "Nat's been asking for a baby sister for a very long time."

"She's going to love you, little one." Melinda said.

Skye smiled at Melinda's smiling face. "She'll like me?"

"Nat will _adore _you, baby." Melinda said, swinging their joined hands. "Now, bath time."

**A/N: Review Please! Thanks for all the kind words from the last chapter! xxx**


	5. Skye's Treasures

**A/N: Thanks for all of your lovely words regarding this story, I am thrilled you all like it.**

**To those who messaged me asking how I write my fic; I plan my chapters in advance, and write much of my future chapters long before they are published. I take at least a two hour session to edit them, if not more than that, before I publish. :)**

* * *

><p>Phil stayed downstairs, typing away on his laptop, apparently something to do with getting Natasha flights, while Melinda took Skye upstairs to her new room. Phil had already moved her bags of clothes into the bedroom at some point, but he had kindly left Skye's backpack where it was in the living room for Skye to take upstairs herself.<p>

Skye had given him her best smile for doing that. She had considered giving him a hug for half a second, but as much as she liked Phil, he wasn't Melinda. The idea of hugging Phil still felt a little risky, a little scary. Maybe it was the extended interaction she had had with her new foster mother, or perhaps it was the particularly nasty experience Skye had suffered through with her pervious foster father, but something about Melinda just seemed safer, more comfortable to Skye. But the smile she had given him for not touching her backpack had made Phil smile too, and that made Skye feel especially good.

When they reached the top of the stairs, Melinda pointed to the door closest to them in the hall. "That's your room, Skye."

The room was the closest door to the top of the stairs on a hallway filled with similar dark wood doors. Directly opposite Skye's new bedroom, facing the front yard, was Phil and Mel's room, identifiable by the little wooden plaque on the front reading 'The Bosses'.

"Bobbi bought us that a while ago." Mel said, nodding to the plaque. "Bobbi likes things to be labelled." She waved a hand at the rest of the doors. "She thought this sign was amusing. She said our door was too plain."

"Huh." Skye said, not particularly seeing the humour in it. She looked down the hall at each of the doors. Only one of them didn't have something decorating the front of it, and that was Skye's, the rest all featured some kind of embellishment, though from her position at the end of the hall, Skye couldn't quite see what specifically, the further of the doors featured.

Melinda opened the plain door and gestured for Skye to enter. This introduction of the bedroom in the foster home was a ceremony she'd been through many times before. One that altered from home to home, but was generally in all past cases, a source of uneasy trauma.

Miss Macy had made somewhat of an effort for Skye's arrival. She was a single woman in her late forties and Skye was only her second foster kid, the first having been a toddler who had been the light of her life until the baby's biological mother had been deemed fit enough to care for her child and the baby girl had been taken away from Miss Macy. Skye had been shown to her new bedroom at Miss Macy's house, only to find it was exactly as baby Hannah had left it, complete with crib and changing table. Skye had slept on an air mattress on the floor. But she _had _bought her new sheets, even if they were pink.

Her last foster family, one Skye made a valiant effort not to recall too well, had shown her to a room already occupied by their youngest biological son, a vicious nine year old who did _not _want a younger sister, period, never mind a younger sister sharing his room. From day zero Skye had known she was not welcome there, but the football-themed bedroom, in which she was not allowed to even place her few things in the empty drawer the boy's parents had forced him to give her, cemented this in her mind. His three older brothers, and eventually his father, had all apparently shared the same opinion on Skye- she was dispensable, and the sooner they got her out of _their _home, the better. In Skye's experience, bedrooms seemed to set the tone for her stay.

Some families, like Phil and Melinda, were experienced foster parents, and so had a specific room dedicated to new kids. Skye had been in a few of them in her time, and those kinds of bedrooms were fine really, though they exuded the sense of temporary living. Better than the threatening feeling of her last foster home, or of the eerie feeling of intrusion in Miss Macy's house, but still not particularly pleasant. That was what Skye was expecting; cold, plain walls (no specific colour scheme to avoid any kids' triggers), only the basic furniture (bed, drawers, cheap stuff that could be easily replaced if damaged), plain gender and age neutral bed sheets (usually some kind of dark colour so they were less likely to be stained and last longer), no photographs, no toys, no cuddly animals, nothing personal. Rooms were clean but not comforting. The kind of room that looked okay to grown-ups but that Skye _knew _had monsters living under the bed and in the shadows that would get her when she was left alone. That was what Skye was expecting.

Skye paused, hovering in the doorway and eyeing the carpet rather than risk seeing the inside of the bedroom. She was apprehensive.

"You want to have a look around your room, Skye?" Mel said, rubbing her back. "Phil put your other bags in there."

Skye gripped her backpack with one hand and grabbed for Melinda's with the other. Holding Melinda's hand made the whole situation feel a little better, and Skye mustered up all of her bravery. Maybe if the monsters saw she was a brave girl, they wouldn't bother her. Mel squeezed her hand and Skye squeezed back, being extra bold, and allowed herself to be gently tugged her inside of the room.

Melinda flicked on the lights with her free hand, and Skye looked around the bedroom. Her bedroom.

"Wow." She breathed. "This isn't a scary room." She dropped Melinda's hand. It wasn't scary at all. Not the kind of place monsters would be living.

"No it isn't." Mel agreed. "Phil and I have taken special care to make sure that your bedroom is the safest and least scary room in the entire universe."

Skye turned to her with a frown. "How did you do that?"

Melinda shrugged and walked over to the bed, a white wooden structure covered in brightly coloured fleece blankets, dropping down onto it. "Phil and I are the very best at making safe and cosy bedrooms. We're experts."

"You can make the monsters go away?" Skye asked, and Melinda's expression twitched into something she didn't really recognise, before just as quickly smoothing back into her comforting smile.

"Oh, Honey. Phil and I fight off all those monsters, we chase them away so that not only do they never come back, but they tell all of their monster friends about us and they even _those _monsters won't come anywhere here near this house!"

Skye gawked at her. "You _really _do that? You scare the monsters?"

Melinda smiled and Skye couldn't help but smile back, in awe of this woman who was so kind to her but who could chase away her demons.

"Phil and I keep all of our babies safe from the monsters."

Skye nodded, she trusted that Phil and Mel were experts in keeping people safe. She wondered if they had chased away Bobbi and Natasha's monsters, too. Perhaps she would ask when Natasha came home.

Skye took another, more detailed, look around the room. Melinda watched her quietly from the bed, smiling.

As far as bedrooms went, and Skye had had a lot, this room was pretty up there. In fact, Skye had already decided that this was the best bedroom she had ever had. It was absolutely perfect.

It was fairly plain, white walls and a cream carpet, but the monster scarers had put a fluffy blue rug in the centre and some pictures on the walls. One of them was a framed poster of the cover of Phil's Captain America book. Skye knelt down to tickle the rug, feeling its softness, and dropped her head down to rub her cheek against the blue plush. She heard Melinda chuckle behind her.

The fluffy blankets on the bed matched the rug, and the white wood of the bedframe matched the wardrobe and chest of drawers. The bedside cabinet was the same blue as the rug, as was the desk. She had a desk. Skye rushed over to it and ran her hand over the blue plastic and white drawers. _Her very own desk_. There was even a desk chair with wheels on the bottom.

Skye turned back to where Melinda was lounging against the abundance of pillows on the bed. She opened her mouth to speak, but then Skye spotted the lamp in the shape of a star attached to the wall by Melinda's head and her throat felt tight. She had to swallow a couple of times to make the feeling go away.

"It's perfect." Skye whispered.

"I'm glad you like it, baby." Mel smiled. "I wasn't sure what colours you would like but-,"

"It's _perfect_." Skye repeated. "I really like it."

Skye _did _like it. She loved it. Skye loved her room. _Her _room.

She dropped her backpack on the rug and launched herself at Melinda on the bed. The woman laughed and made an 'ooft' noise as Skye landed on her, but she cuddled her close and kissed her head.

"I love my bedroom." Skye whispered, hugging Mel tightly. No foster mother had ever done something so generous for her before. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. You like the blue?"

"It's the best!" Skye shouted and hopped off the bed, parading around her bedroom. "I love it! I love it! I love it!" She chanted, running from item to item in the room. It was overwhelming, looking at all of the things Phil and Melinda had picked out for her. _Especially _for Skye.

"Hey," Mel said, standing up. "I'm going to run your bath, but you just keep…" she waved a hand at Skye's continued mix of dancing and gawking at things in the room. "…doing what you're doing."

Skye nodded, grinning, and flicking the star lamp, by the bed, on and off. It gave the room a blue, yet warming glow, when she switched it on. "You're the best mom ever!"

At the same time, Skye and Melinda seemed to realise what had left Skye's mouth. Mel smiled; Skye's face fell.

"I, er, I didn't meant to…" Skye stuttered. Calling Melinda _that_ had been a slip of the tongue. She didn't really mean it.

She didn't… she'd meant to say _foster mom. _That's what she'd meant, but then, it hadn't come out of her mouth properly and…Skye felt her cheeks getting hot and dread pooled in her stomach. Her eyes burned. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Melinda said. "It's fine, don't worry about it. I'm going to run your bath, okay?"

Skye nodded. "Okay."

…

Melinda began running Skye's bath, turning on the taps and pouring in a little bubble bath. She sat on the closed seat of the toilet and took a deep breath, calling forth every meditation practice she knew to keep herself calm.

Skye had called her 'mom'. Accidentally, yes, but had still said it. More than anything it was the shock of the situation, which had tattered Melinda's usually calm persona, although she hoped for Skye's sake that she'd managed to convincingly keep up the cool outer façade.

A few deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth, and Melinda had recovered from the little surprise. Her concern for Skye's wellbeing began bursting forth, burying any lingering feelings of panic at being called 'mom' by the little girl. Skye had looked as though she had done something terrible. She had looked absolutely devastated that she had allowed herself to slip up in that way; panicked as if Melinda was going to reprimand her.

Mel had read Skye's case file. If she were a slightly lesser person, she would not hesitate to kill the people who had destroyed her little girl's outlook on life. As it was, she was instead concocting a list of people to screw over at the closest possible opportunity.

Skye had no idea what was actually acceptable in terms of behaviour. For too long she had been punished for things she should have _never_ been reprimanded for, and left to her own devices for long enough that she didn't always remember what wasn't allowed. That was one of the things she and Phil had discussed early on when reading all about Skye, that this child would need a positive reconditioning. But they could do that.

Look at Bobbi.

Look at Natasha.

They were capable of giving Skye a second chance.

Melinda turned her attention back to the bath, turning off the taps and dipping her hand in to test the temperature. Satisfied, she pulled a towel out of the linen cupboard and draped it over the radiator to warm up for Skye.

She left the bathroom and went back to Skye's bedroom, listening for any signs that the little girl had resumed her song and recovered from the shock of calling Melinda 'mom', but as she approached the door it was decidedly quiet. Mel popped her head into the room to check on her little girl, and found Skye standing by the chest of drawers, organising items on the top.

"Skye." Melinda said, walking over to her.

Skye jumped and whipped her head around. "Ohmygosh!" She gasped. "Oh, sorry. You scared me." She grinned.

"I'm sorry." Mel smiled. "I didn't mean to sneak up on you."

"You're like a ninja."

"Well, that _was_ plan B."

Skye laughed, and looked back to the top of the drawers. She had left the two plastic bags of clothes untouched, but her backpack lay open on top of the bed. Skye, on seeing Mel, not so subtly covered what looked like a couple of books with her backpack and shuffled back over to the drawers. Various items were scattered across the top of the drawers, although Skye was lovingly arranging the trinkets as Melinda watched, gently placing each thing down with so much care that one would believe she was handling priceless items.

But that's what they were to Skye, though, weren't they? Priceless.

The items Melinda could see were the most random and yet typically childlike articles she had seen treasured by a child. Bobbi and Natasha had been twelve and fourteen, respectively, when they had entered their home, and although they too had brought along some sentimental treasures, it had been nothing on the scale of Skye's weird collection.

"You're unpacking?" Melinda asked, sitting on the desk chair and shuffling it over to the drawers.

"Mmhmm." Skye replied, focused on meticulously arranging what appeared at first glance to be a handful of crap, on a paper handkerchief. "My special things."

"Your special things? Can I see them?"

Skye tuned to Melinda, taking a silent second to consider her before nodding once. "Some of them, and only the ones I say, okay?"

"Okay." Mel agreed.

"And you can only touch then when I say so. _Never _touch them without my permission."

Melinda smiled. Skye and Natasha were certainly very similar when it came to the protection of their treasured items. Nat would be thrilled to have this little treasure as a sister.

"Okay. I promise never to touch them without your express permission." She put one hand over her heart to prove her point.

This seemed to satisfy Skye, who picked up the paper handkerchief and cradled it gently in her hands. She held it out to Melinda and allowed her to peer inside. There, held inside the tissue, were a group of incredibly random items; a smooth grey stone, slightly larger than a grape; a white speckled cockle shell with a small hole at the top centre curve; a dull gold and silver one Euro coin; and a flat point screw, big enough that it most likely had come from some type of machinery.

"That's some cool stuff you have there." Melinda said.

"I know." Skye replied, looking down at her treasures with fondness. "I got the pebble from a lake when we went with school one time." She explained, pointing to corresponding item. "And the screw I found when I was digging in the grass at the park. The coin is from a place called Europe." She told Mel. "That's what my old teacher said. I got it off him for knowing what country the Eiffel tower is in." Skye looked to Melinda, a serious expression on her face. "It's in France." She informed her.

"I see." Mel grinned. "What about the shell?"

"Oh, that's from a beach."

"When did you go to the beach?"

"I've never been to the beach, but one time when I lived with Mr and Mrs Jackson, we went to the aquarium and the girl there gave me it." Skye explained. She pointed to the little hole in the top. "You see that? It happens when a snail sucks the shell to get to the other animal in the middle and it sucks so hard that it make a hole."

"That's very cool." Mel said. "You could made that into a necklace."

Skye looked almost offended at the prospect and shook her head, returning the tissue of things to the top of the drawers. "No. It's too special for that."

"I understand. Can I see any of your other special things today, or…"

"You can see everything that's on here." Skye clarified, indicating the top of the drawers. Her bed remained littered with other items that Melinda assumed were either too private to be presented on the chest of drawers or not important enough to display. "But you _can't _touch them." She reiterated.

"Of course. Maybe you can show me everything else after your bath, or maybe tomorrow. The water will be getting cold."

"Kay. I'll just put these away first." Skye scooped up the items on her bed and carefully placed them back into her backpack, zipping it up and putting it at the foot of her bed with the bags of clothes.

"You got any pyjamas in there?" Mel asked, nodding to the clothing bags.

"Mmm." Skye tipped the two bags upside down onto the carpet and began rifling through the clothes, occasionally picking up an item and scrunching up her nose in distaste.

Without even looking too closely, Melinda could bet that the majority, if not all, of the clothes in the bags were hand-me-downs from other kids at the orphanage. One pair of leggings in particular had at least two holes in that she could see. After a few seconds Skye stood and walked over to Melinda, holding out a couple of articles of clothing.

"I've got some other shorts, too." She mumbled as Mel took the items. Skye rubbed her arm and looked away. "They don't match…"

"That's okay." Mel said and tried her best not to seem appalled at the green threadbare polo shirt that must have been two sizes too big for little Skye, and the white gym shorts.

Melinda had doubted St. Agnes' orphanage before. Countless kids had stayed with them who had unpleasant stories of mean nuns and nasty older children. She had heard even worse from Natasha, although _her _memories were tainted with a frantic fear and terrifying anger. But actually seeing that the children could be given less than basic clothing, not even _actual _sleepwear, was shocking.

Although her previous foster families had ended mostly badly, Mel knew they weren't _all _bad for the whole time. At some point, someone must have bought Skye pyjamas. She must have been bought new clothes. Where they were now…well, Melinda would be talking to Abby. It was no wonder Skye was so protective of her trinkets, if everything her foster parents had bought her had been taken away as soon as she had found herself back in the orphanage.

"Where did you get these?" Melinda tried to ask curiously, rather than accusingly, putting the shorts and shirt on the radiator in Skye's room.

"Sister Jane gave them to me." She said.

Melinda took Skye by the hand and led her to the bathroom. "She gave them to you? Didn't you have pyjamas before?"

Skye shrugged and kept her eyes on the floor.

Mel tugged her into the bathroom and closed the door. She sat on the closed toilet seat and guided Skye to stand in front of her, putting her hands on the eight-year-olds shoulders.

"Skye. Look at me." She instructed.

Skye looked up, peering at Melinda through dark lashes.

"You're not in trouble, baby. I just want to know what happened to your other clothes because I _know _you must have got some new ones at some point."

"I guess, I got new ones sometimes." Skye admitted. "Miss Macy bought me some new ones, but I didn't get to bring any back with me."

Melinda had read in Skye's file about the abrupt end to her stay with Angela Macy. Skye had apparently reacted badly to being reprimanded by Macy and had 'lashed out violently and unprovoked' if the reports were to be believed. Melinda didn't believe them. Kids weren't bad just for the sake of it. However, she did feel slightly better knowing Skye's new things hadn't been ripped away from her on entering St. Agnes'. Although Melinda had a nasty feeling the nuns wouldn't hesitate to remove new things from the children.

Skye cemented this suspicion. "Sometimes they take the new stuff away, to keep for some other kids."

"We're going to go shopping tomorrow." Melinda smiled to cover her disgust, pulling Skye's t-shirt over her head.

"We are? What for?"

"Well, you need to matching jammies, right?"

Skye frowned. "It's okay. You don't need to buy me anything." She removed the rest of her clothes and climbed in the bubble bath.

Mel sat on the floor and rested her chin on the edge of the bathtub. "But what if Phil and I want to buy you some new stuff?"

"I…well, I guess, then it's okay. If you _want _to." Skye began moulding the bubbles into mountains.

"You're going to be going to a new school, you know." Mel said. She and Phil had discussed how to have this conversation with Skye, unsure how she would react to moving schools, but now seemed as good a time as ever, when Skye was calm and in one place. "We could get you some new clothes for you to wear for school. Maybe a new backpack, too."

Unexpectedly, the little girl's face lit up. "I get to go to a new school?"

"Well you're old one is a little too far away for Phil and I to drive to every day. Honestly, I thought you'd be a bit more upset about it."

"No! I _hate _my school. The kids are horrible and my teacher doesn't like me." Skye pouted. "She's so mean to me."

"I'm sure she likes you just fine."

"Uh-uh." Skye argued, letting Mel wash her face off with a washcloth. "She was mean to me. Not _just_ me, but _'specially _me."

"How so?" Mel questioned.

Skye huffed and looked back down at the bubbles. "She only likes the smart kids."

"You're smart, Skye."

"M'not. I'm stupid. My teacher gets mad when I can't read the words in the book." Skye swirled the bubbles around with her fingers. "And she doesn't like helping with the number work if I get stuck."

Melinda reached out to touch Skye's face, encouraging her to look up. "Hey, I don't ever, _ever _want to hear you call yourself that." Mel said. "You might find some things difficult, but if your teacher doesn't help you or gets angry at you, well, that's her fault. _She's _stupid."

Melinda added 'Skye's old teacher' to the mental list of people to chase down and make life hell, for hurting her little girl. So far she had nine foster families, several nuns, and now the teacher. It was becoming quite the catalogue.

Skye peered at her with wide eyes. "Do you think my new teacher is nice?" She asked quietly.

Melinda smiled, and smoothed out Skye's worried expression with a few strokes of her thumb. Skye leaned into her touch and let a tiny smile grace her lips.

"I _know _your new teacher is nice." Skye brightened at that. "She's a friend of mine and Phil's. Used to work for us while she was in college. She's a _very _nice teacher. Very kind."

"Really?" Skye grinned, then let her expression fall as another thought seemed to hit her. "She worked for you? What's your job?"

Melinda reached over Skye for the showerhead attached to the wall. "Phil and I own the gym she taught yoga at." She turned on the tap and tested the temperature on her hand.

"A gym? Like with running machines and fake bikes?"

Melinda snorted and began showering Skye's long hair. "You mean treadmills and exercise bikes?"

"Yeah."

"Well, we've got those, but we've also got swimming pools and gymnastics classes and trampolines and lots of fun stuff to do." She reached over to grab the shampoo. "Close your eyes, baby." Skye did, and Mel quickly washed and rinsed her hair, rubbing conditioner through.

"That sounds fun." Skye said, eyes still closed. "I like trampolines." She paused as Mel began detangling her hair as gently as she could manage. "Is that how you and Phil are so rich, because you own a gym?"

"We're not rich, we're-,"

"_Comfortable, _I know."

Melinda couldn't help but laugh at Skye. "Right, comfortable." She washed all the conditioner off. "And anyway, we own _three_ gyms. Okay, I'm done, open your eyes."

Skye did, and Mel sprayed her face with the shower. The little laughed and spluttered, rubbing the water out of her eyes.

"Hey!"

"Just making sure you're all clean." Mel smiled. "Come on, then. If you stay in the tub any longer, you'll turn into a raisin."

…

After getting ready for bed, Melinda brushed and dried Skye's hair. She was the gentlest hair-brusher Skye had ever experienced, and when she was led downstairs, Skye felt almost giddy with excitement.

The playroom awaited.

Phil was still typing away on his laptop when Skye skipped over him, grinning madly. "Phil, Phil, we're going in the playroom!" She looked round to Mel. "Right?"

"Yes, baby. Thirty minutes, them bed. That's what we agreed."

"That sounds like a fair agreement." Phil smiled, closing the computer and placing it on the coffee table. He looked at Skye, then looked over to Mel.

"We're going shopping tomorrow." She said and he nodded. "Gonna get Skye some new jammies, right?"

"Yeah." Skye agreed. She was looking forward to getting new pyjamas.

Phil stood up. "Playroom time?" He asked. Skye nodded. "Let's go, then."

Skye took his offered hand and practically dragged the man to the decorated door of the playroom, Mel following. When they reached the door, Skye paused, unsure of how to continue. As excited as she was, it felt almost like an intrusion now that she was standing there.

Natasha and Bobbi smiled at her from their photographs. What if Natasha and Bobbi didn't want Skye to go in their playroom? In her last foster family, the other kids had either hit or kicked her if she even tried to touch some of their things.

"You want to go in, Skye?" Phil prompted.

Skye looked up at him. He was smiling at her. "Okay." She said, but made no effort to open the door. Seeming to sense her unease, Phil reached for the handle and pushed opened the door to the playroom.

The only other experience with a playroom Skye had, was when she was in kindergarten, and there was a 'playroom' attached to the classroom. That had been a box room with plastic crates of well-played with toys, and old dress-up clothes. That's kind of what Skye had been expecting. Hand-me-down toys from the kids gone by.

That was not what she saw.

Next to her, Phil ushered her in with a hand on her back.

The room was incredible. Bigger than the _actual _living room. It had posters covering most of the walls, many of them, Skye noted, were some form of Captain America's image. One of the walls, though, was completely covered with a giant bookcase, filled top to bottom with appealing spines, some at the bottom looking skinny, the ones higher up looking much thicker.

Skye wandered over to where the toys were in a corner opposite the bright red couch where Mel and Phil had sat themselves. They were watching her with their arms around each other and smiles gracing their faces. Skye smiled back.

They had lots of toys. Baby dolls sitting in car seats with drawers full of clothes; Barbies and Ken dolls set up in a doll house that was taller than Skye was; a huge box of Lego with several scenes already built and displayed on a little table above it. There was so much more than that, too. It was so overwhelming that Skye found herself migrating back over to the couch and climbing on Phil and Mel's laps.

"You like it?" Mel asked, brushing her hair out of her face. Since washing it, Skye's hair was feeling particularly fluffy.

"Yes." Skye said. "I…" She trailed off, as a large desk with a computer and two chairs caught her eye. Clear plastic drawers by the desk contained what looked to be coloured paper and pens. "This room has everything."

"Well, I tried to cover all bases when I first made it." Phil said. "And now I keep it well stocked."

"Why do you have so many toys, though?" Skye questioned, eyeing the Barbies. "If Natasha and Bobbi are all grown up?"

Melinda snorted. "Honey, it doesn't matter what age they are, they're all kids forever. Even Phil has some of his toys in here."

"They're _action figures." _He argued. Phil tugged Skye into his lap and rested his head on her shoulder, keeping his eyes level with hers. "See the baby dolls?" He asked, and Skye nodded. "Nat likes to play with them."

That seemed odd, Skye thought, for Natasha to want to play with dolls.

"A long time ago," Melinda explained, "Natasha used to take care of a lot of babies, and sometimes she used to feel very mad when she first came to stay with us."

"Like me." Skye said.

"A little bit like you." Mel agreed. "And the thing that made her feel better, when she was mad, was dressing all the baby dolls, just like she used to dress the babies."

Skye looked back at the little dolls, all immaculately dressed in tiny dresses and dungarees. Each had a pacifier in its mouth, which was attached to their clothes with a line. There weren't many babies at the orphanage now, but at one time there had been quite a few who were still too small to walk, waiting to be adopted. The babies cried a lot, but Skye had been pretty good at cheering them up with funny faces and shows she would put on with the teddy bears.

"You can't get mad around babies." Skye said. "Then they get sad, too."

"That's right." Phil said. "You see the Lego?"

"Uh-huh."

"We got most of that after Clint moved in." He smirked. "He likes building things. Clint was eighteen when he moved in. An _actual _adult. So you see why we have so many toys, because all our adults are children."

Skye spied the Barbies again. One blonde and one brunette doll were sat at a kitchen table in the dollhouse, tiny mugs in front of them. Skye imagined they were discussing their jobs. Maybe they worked at a gym. The blonde was a lifeguard and the brunette was a yoga teacher and they were best friends.

"What about the Barbies?" Skye asked, sliding off Phil's lap and shuffling over to the dollhouse on her knees. "Who do they belong to?"

"Bobbi." Mel said behind her. "She brought a few of them with her when she moved in that were hers when she was very small, and even when she was a teenager she liked buying new accessories for them with her allowance. She just liked to set them all up, I think."

Skye reached out to touch the two dolls sitting at the miniature table, but pulled her hand back at the last minute. If Bobbi had spent time arranging the dolls just as she liked, Skye didn't want to mess them up.

"You know, Bobbi won't mind if you want to play with them." Melinda said.

Skye turned around to face her. "I don't want to mess them up."

"What if I ask her if you can play with them?"

"You could ask her?"

Melinda put her hand into her back pocket and pulled out her phone. "Sure. It's just after lunch in England. Bobbi will be at work, but that's okay. Should I ask her?"

Skye looked back at the Barbies. "Yes please."

It only took a few minutes for Mel's phone to chime with Bobbi's reply, and Skye looked over at her hopefully. "What did she say?"

Mel smiled, reading the text, then held the phone out to Skye. She took it and began reading the message aloud.

"'Of cor-course Skye can play with my B-Barbies.'" Bobbi had put an exclamation point after that. "'It makes sense that they get played with by an ac-ac-tu-al, actual, kid and not a grown woman.'" Skye stopped reading after that, too thrilled that she had been given permission by Bobbi. She looked up and Mel and Phil, feeling the need to confirm. "So I get to play with them?"

"Yep." Mel laughed. "She said you can. Read the rest."

Skye looked back at the text and scrolled down to the next part. "'Tell my new little sister I can't wait to meet her. Tell her I pro-promise to play Barbies with her when I come home.'" Skye smiled and re-read the text. Bobbi had said she was her little sister. Skye had never been anyone's sister before. _And _Bobbi wanted to play with Skye. She didn't seem mad at all that Skye wanted to play with her toys.

"Skye?" Phil asked and she looked up at him. "You want to play for a little while, before bed?"

She nodded and handed back Melinda her phone. "Tell Bobbi I'll be _super_ careful with her dollies and I'll take good care of them 'till she comes home."

"I will." Mel smiled.

The Barbies beckoned Skye over to the dollhouse and she began playing with the yoga instructor and her lifeguard friend, being extra gentle not to mess up their hair, so Bobbi would be pleased with her when she came home. Skye wanted her big sisters to like her.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Review, please! Let me know what you thought. xxx**


	6. Skye's Going Shopping

**A/N: Please, please, please check out an amazing edit made for this fic by the incredible SmudgeQueen. See it on my tumblr or on smudgequeenblr tumblr. **

**If you'd like to make an edit for this fic, please do! I'd love that. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

><p>Skye awoke to the strange sensation of complete relaxation. Back at St Agnes she was mostly awoken by the screaming of other kids and the knowledge that she had to get up and join them. It tended to stir up a feeling of dread low in her stomach on a morning.<p>

Here though, her new bedroom was quiet, the blinds closed and her star lamp still casting a blue glow over the walls. At some point while asleep, Skye had managed to pull most of a blue fleece blanket up to her face, so that she was snuggling it in both arms. It felt nice to wake up naturally and not to be awoken by the orphanage's buzzer and the shouting of other kids.

Stretching, and cuddling back into the blanket, Skye closed her eyes and smiled, thinking of the night before. It was the best night ever. She had played (very carefully) with Bobbi's Barbies, before Mel and Phil had taken her up to bed, and Phil had finished reading her the end of Captain America's book. To her absolute joy, the superhero beat the Red Skull and saved all of the people from his wrath. The foggy, still sleepy part of Skye's brain dredged up images of a dream she might have had during the night, involving Captain America saving the day, but they were quickly flitting away as consciousness began to get the better of her.

The sound of her bedroom door opening, prompted Skye to open her eyes again, and thoughts of Captain America were replaced by the image of Melinda, already dressed, poking her head around the door.

"Hey, there." Mel said, coming in the room and sitting on the edge of Skye's bed. "Good morning." She brushed a hand through Skye's hair.

"Mornin'" Skye mumbled sleepily and sat up.

"You sleep okay?"

"Yes. What time is it?" There was a clock on the other side of the room, but it was analogue and Skye still struggled with those.

"Good girl. It's just after nine."

Skye raised her brows in surprise. They'd let her sleep pretty late. Back at St. Agnes', the latest they were allowed to sleep was seven-thirty, even on the weekends. Something about 'routine keeping them all in line'.

"You still up for going shopping today?" Mel asked.

Skye nodded. "Matching jammies." She remembered with a smile, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Yep. Maybe some new school stuff, too."

Melinda was smiling at Skye, sitting on her bed, and the little girl was suddenly struck with the urge to remind Melinda just how grateful she was for her new bedroom, for how kind she and Phil were being. Skye pushed the blankets away from her legs and crawled over to Mel, plonking herself into her lap and wrapping her arms around her foster mother's neck.

"Thank you." She said, feeling Melinda hugging back, returning the embrace. Melinda didn't say anything back, but she kissed Skye's cheek and pressed her nose into her hair. "Thank you for taking care of me."

"It's not something you ever have to thank me, or Phil, for. Looking after you is _our_ pleasure." Mel said. "But you're welcome, nonetheless, little baby."

Skye smiled and hugged Melinda just a little bit harder, just to make sure that the women _really_ knew Skye was grateful.

"You want to get dressed and get some breakfast?" Mel asked, pulling back.

"Yep." Skye grinned, and shuffled out of bed behind Melinda. "Where's Phil?"

"He's cooking breakfast." Mel sat on the ground by the pile of Skye's clothes. "So the quicker you get dressed, the quicker you can eat."

…

As much as Melinda had been looking forward to getting Skye some new clothes, and as much as Phil had wanted to spoil the little girl a bit with some toys, admittedly, Phil had been somewhat dreading taking the eight-year-old shopping. His experience with taking their foster children to the mall in the past had ended in various scenarios, though most were less than relaxing.

Skye, however, was proving to be a little angel during their outing. Phil's natural instincts told him to be suspicious of her perfect behaviour (she could have some sort of plan of action ready to be put in place- he thought back to Nat), but Phil decided to give her the benefit of the doubt once he saw how excited Skye got over buying a few sets of jammies. Her cuteness was killing him.

"I like that one." Skye pointed up a purple t-shirt covered in various images of cats wearing sunglasses.

"You like cats?" Mel asked, sifting through to find Skye's size.

"Mmhm." She nodded, swinging the hand that she held of Phil's. "I like _all _animals. All of them. Cats and dogs and ponies and bunnies and sharks if they're on TV and not in real life and snakes and-,"

"Wow. You _do _like animals." Phil laughed. He smirked at Melinda as she dropped the cat shirt into the cart. "Nat likes animals too, right Mel."

She glared at him. "_Right_."

"She does?" Skye beamed, tugging on his hand. "Does Natasha have any pets? I _always _wanted a pet."

"_Actually_, Nat does have a pet." Phil said, tugging Skye along to where the leggings were, and giving Melinda another sly smirk.

Natasha had a beloved pet that she loved to death, Clint liked a fine amount, Phil tolerated, and Melinda _hated. _One of Phil's favourite past times was reminding Melinda of the animal's existence. She scowled at him.

"Yeah, and it likes to escape in the house." Mel grumbled.

"What is it?" Skye was practically humming with excitement, ignoring Melinda's attempts to get her to choose some leggings. "A puppy? A hamster? A _lizard_?"

"You're closer with lizard than puppy." Phil smirked.

"Huh?" Skye cocked her head.

"It's a spider." Phil said and Mel made a face.

Skye's mouth fell open comically. "She has a pet _spider_?"

"Well, a tarantula."

"Cool."

"It's not _cool."_ Mel said, tapping Skye on the head. "It's _awful_." She said it with a little smile though, so Phil liked to think she had some semblance of fondness for the tarantula she claimed to hate so much.

"You'll meet Nat's little, although not little enough, friend soon." Mel said, changing the subject. "Now come on, pick some leggings. Look, they've even got ones with cats on."

Skye squealed and dropped Phil's hand, taking Mel's instead and pouring over the various patterns of clothes. She was certainly easier to shop with than their other kids had been.

During their few years as emergency carers, Phil and Mel had never really _had_ to take kids shopping for new clothes, because they only stayed with them for a few days at a time. The first child they'd cared for, for longer than a week, had been Trip, and he'd _had_ all of the necessary items with him, having brought them from home.

Trip's stays with the Coulsons had been for four or five weeks every few months when his grandmother had been ill and in hospital. He'd been one of the few kids they'd cared for who hadn't been abused or neglected; only needing care when his grandmother's illness flared up. The incredible woman had died a couple of years ago, comfortably in her own home with Trip by her side, safe in the knowledge he had a family in the Coulsons to look after him, despite his adulthood. Phil smiled to himself as he thought to the young man working back at their gym as a trainer and volunteering for all of the kids' club activities. Trip was a kind soul. His grandmother would be proud. Phil certainly was.

"Hey, Phil?" Skye interrupted his musings.

"Hm?"

She held up a shirt in front of his face with the hand that wasn't holding Mel's. "I like this shirt 'cause it has a dragon off a movie on it, but it's in the boy section." Her face scrunched up. "Mel says I can still get it, is that right?"

"Sure." Phil shrugged. "It doesn't matter what the store says. Girls can wear boys clothes."

Skye nodded to herself and placed the t-shirt gently into their cart. "And boys can wear girls clothes, too, right?"

"Um…I guess." He smiled, eyeing Melinda and noting her proud smirk.

"Good." Skye declared, and conversation apparently over, went back to looking at the 'boys' clothes with a newfound vigour.

Oh, Bobbi was going to love this little one; a love for animals _and _a complete disregard for gender stereotypes? Phil smiled. Skye was going to make Bobbi a very happy big sister.

It was just after Trip had returned to living with his grandmother after one of her stints in hospital that Bobbi had first arrived. She'd been twelve, skinny, looking more like nine or ten, and owned only clothes that either no longer fitted or had been passed down from her older brother. Not too far off Skye's current state. Also like Skye, she had arrived in the middle of a school semester, meaning Phil and Mel had needed to take her to buy school clothes and shoes.

The twelve year old had refused point blank to speak to either Phil or Mel for the first five days she had stayed with them, meaning the trip to mall had consisted of both of the adults just guessing at what a twelve year old would want to wear and Bobbi refusing to try anything on. That had been a _long _day for Phil, who had little patience for shopping on a good day. Although Bobbi's trip couldn't hold a candle to taking Natasha to the mall for the first time. Now, _that _had been a day.

For all that Phil had been secretly dreading this Sunday shopping trip with little Skye, the kid was proving significantly easier to deal with out and about and Nat and Bobbi had been, even if she had refused to pick out any toys, thus far. Although, Phil suspected as the day went one, a lot of Skye's obedience in public may have had something to do with her fear of other people, and _that _broke Phil's heart.

At all times in the two hours since leaving the car, Skye had consistently remained tied to either Phil or Mel, holding their hands like a lifeline. She smiled at the shop attendants who rang up their purchases in each shop, and confidently told the guy in the shoe shop that she '_did not want the pink sneakers that the other little girls all wanted'_, but when strangers walked too close to her, or the lines in the stores began to get crowded, Skye gripped Phil's hand and sank behind him like a startled puppy.

For this reason, Phil had whispered a quick excuse in Mel's ear, kissed her cheek, and left her to pay for their things, taking Skye out into the less crowded part of the mall, outside of the store.

A particularly rowdy group of teenagers passed them by while Melinda was paying for hundreds of dollars worth of clothes in a crowded children's store, the teens shouting and laughing, chasing each other through the mall. A few other shoppers were giving them disapproving looks, but Skye seemed positively terrified. She whimpered and hid behind Phil, gripping is arm with both hands.

"Hey, hey, hey." Phil said, turning around and kneeling in front of Skye. "What's up, honey?"

Skye snivelled and Phil noted the sudden shine in her dark eyes, tears threatening to spill over at any provocation. "They were scary." She mumbled, glancing worriedly in the direction of the unruly teens that were now hovering by a pretzel stand.

"It's okay." Phil stroked her cheek. "They're just silly boys. They think they're funny making lots of racket." This didn't seem to reassure Skye, especially as a round of laughter from the teenage boys started her, making the first tears fall. Phil wiped them away with his thumbs. "You know when you're with Mel or I, we'll never let anything happen to you?"

"Never?" Skye said.

"Never. Skye, I promise I'll keep you safe."

Since meeting Skye, Phil had had very little time alone with her. She tended to stick close to Melinda, and although he felt no animosity from the little girl, it was obvious that Skye felt more confortable with a female presence. Whatever had sparked that, and Phil could guess from having read Skye's file, made him all the more determined to bond with her.

The boys rushed passed them for the second time, scaring Skye, and before she could get upset again, Phil lifted the little girl off her feet and into his arms.

"Ssh, little one, I've got you." He said.

For a second, Phil though he may have done more damage to the situation by picking up Skye as she went stiff in his arms, but then just as quickly, she relaxed and hid her face in Phil's neck, wrapping her arms around him.

"It's okay. I've got you, Skye."

He found a bench just outside of the clothing shop Melinda was still queuing in, and sat down with Skye on his lap. The little girl was trembling in his arms. He stroked her back in what he hoped was a soothing manner.

When she didn't seem to be calming down after a few minutes, Phil tried another tried and tested tactic. Distraction.

"Hey, Skye." She looked up at Phil. "If you could have any animal as a pet, any animal in the _whole_ _entire_ world, what would you have?"

"Any animal and it wouldn't kill me if I kept it in the house?"

"Sure." Phil laughed.

"Polar bear." Skye said without pause.

Phil cocked an eyebrow in question. "A life size one, or like, a mini polar bear?"

"A life size one!" Skye grinned, shifting on Phil's lap, seemingly having forgotten about the scary teens. "Did you know, Phil," she brushed her hair out of her face excitedly, "that, um that, polar bears've got black skin? Their fur isn't white either!"

"It's not?"

"Nope! It's clear, but it just looks white because, there's, um, there's so much of it."

Phil smiled. "You're an expert. How do you know all of that?"

"I saw it on TV and we had a book at school once." Skye looked over at the store Melinda was inside. "I like polar bears." She said wistfully, the scrunched up her nose. "'Cept that they eat seals. I don't like thinking 'bout that."

"Right." Phil shook his head with a smirk.

Skye twitched on his lap, but didn't jump off. "Mel!" She called, waving her over.

Melinda smiled at Skye, a bulging bag of clothes in each hand as she walked over to them. Mel dropped the bags by Phil's feet and put a hand on his shoulder, rubbing it lightly through his t-shirt. He turned his neck to kiss her thumb.

"Getting hugs?" She asked, looking between Phil and Skye.

The little girl nodded and wrapped an arm around Phil's shoulder. "Yeah. There was scary boys."

"Oh no, there was?" Mel crouched down.

"But Phil protected me. So it's okay."

"Well, that's good." Mel kissed Skye's head, then stood and kissed Phil on the mouth. "We're all done?"

"I've got enough new clothes to last me until I'm thirty! Or a hundred!" Skye laughed. "Thank you, guys." She said quietly, cheeks red, still smiling.

"You're welcome, baby." Mel smiled. "Why don't we take these to the car?"

"Actually," Phil interjected, standing up and putting Skye on her feet, "I think me and Skye have one more stop to make."

"We do?" Skye frowned.

"We do." Phil assured her.

Melinda nodded and picked up the bags. "Okay then. I'll go and take these to the car, meet you there in…?"

"Twenty minutes?"

"Sure. See you in a bit."

Phil took Skye's hand, and began leading her over to a store he had never entered in his life, but that he had stared in the window of, more times than he would care to admit.

…

It had been the _greatest _day.

Skye had really had a fantastic day.

Melinda had let her pick out any clothes she had wanted, even the brightly coloured t-shirts and leggings that Sister Margaret would _never _have allowed her to wear. She had picked out more sets of pyjamas than there was days in the week, some purple slippers to wear with them, and more underwear than Skye thought that she would _ever_ be able to get through. Skye had even been allowed to pick out several pairs of shoes and boots and the shoe store; she was particularly excited to show off her knew blue sneakers that lit up when she walked, especially since the man had let her wear them out of the store.

Phil, although hadn't been too enthralled by clothes shopping, had shown Skye to the toy section of one of the department stores, introducing her to the many Captain America toys and merchandise. Both he and Melinda had encouraged her to pick out some toys, but she had turned them down. There were plenty of toys back in the playroom, and anyway, they had already spent far too much on Skye just buying her clothes, she didn't _need _any toys, no matter how much she may have _wanted _them.

"Where are we going, Phil?" Skye asked, craning her neck to watch Melinda's retreating figure taking the bags to the car.

"Well," Phil said, "I can't buy you a real-life polar bear. I don't think our yard's big enough to house a bear and PETA might get a little mad, _but_, what I can do, is get you the next best thing."

"What do you mean?"

Phil stopped walking when they reached a large store filled with other children, many older andyounger than Skye. She shrank back a little, intimidated by the sheer number of people in the store. People were scary. Lots of people Skye didn't know, well, she didn't like thinking about the bad things people did.

Once, when she lived with her last foster family she had got lost in the grocery store and her foster father and brothers had left her there and gone home. They'd done it on purpose, though no one believed her. Abby still insisted it had been an 'honest mistake', despite the other things the man had done while Skye was living there. Waiting in the security office until her foster mother had picked her up was scary. Skye didn't want to get lost again.

"Phil…" She trailed off, focusing on the people in the store.

"You know when you're with me, nothing can hurt you. I'll protect you." He assured, and really, that _did _make Skye feel a lot better, but…

"What if I get lost in there?" She mumbled. "That's a big store." She clung onto Phil's sleeve and let her eyes roam over the store's entrance, ignoring the enticing toys that watched her from the windows.

"You won't." Phil said with confidence. "C'mere." He lifted Skye off her feet and onto his hip and walked them into the store before Skye even had a chance to register her fear.

It was _very _busy in the store, but as she looked around from her high vantage point in Phil's arms, Skye suddenly realised why that was. The whole store, wall to wall, was filled with stuffed animals. It was _amazing._

"Where _are _we?" She asked, gawking at all of the toys.

"Well, you wanted a polar bear, right?" Phil asked, and Skye nodded, eyes falling on a stuffed orange pony behind his head. "You can choose anything you like here, any toy you want, but if you'd still like a polar bear, I'm sure they have one here."

She spotted a bright green teddy bear being hugged by a little boy by the counter. "They have polar bears?"

"We can ask." Phil walked over to one of the brightly dressed employees, and Skye continued looking around at all of the various stuffed animals on the shelves.

"Hey look, Phil." Skye said, tapping his shoulder. "They have spiders!" She gawked at the plush spider, (that didn't really look anything like a _real _spider with its black glittery fur, purple feet, friendly smile and eyelashes) and craned her neck to get a better look. Maybe Natasha would like a cuddly spider, since as far as Skye knew, you couldn't really hug a tarantula.

Phil glanced over in the direction Skye was pointing. "Oh, yeah. That's cool."

"Like Natasha's spider." She said.

Phil laughed. "Thankfully, Nat's spider is significantly smaller, although Mel might like it a bit more if it had a smile…or shoes."

Skye was still focused on the spider plushie when Phil began speaking to an employee.

"How can I help you, today?" The young woman asked Skye, barely looking at Phil.

Skye began feeling a little shy, and tightened her arms around Phil. She didn't really want to speak, but that was okay because Phil spoke for her. Skye hugged him a bit tighter to say thanks.

"We were looking to get Skye here a new toy. Maybe a polar bear?"

Skye nodded in agreement.

"Okay!" The employee grinned. "I think we have a polar bear who is looking for a new home. Maybe you would like to take him home?"

If there was a polar bear looking for a new home, well, Skye knew how that felt.

"Yes." She said. "I'd like to take him home."

"Great! Let's get you all set up!" The employee grinned and ushered them over to a bin filled with what Skye could only identify as deflated polar bears.

"Why are they all flat?" She asked.

"Thing is, these bears need some love to fill them all up with cuddles. So what _you _need to do is pick your polar bear, and we'll get him all fluffed up."

Next to her, Phil was smirking and seemed to be attempting to hold in a laugh, but Skye ignored him and wiggled in his arms until he put her down. She bent over the bin and stared at all of the faces of polar bears looking up at her.

"You gonna pick one, Skye?" Phil asked.

She stared into the bin, but all of the polar bears looked back at Skye with their sparkly blue eyes, and it was just so_ hard_ to pick, so Skye did the only logical thing she could think of, and closed her eyes and thrust her hand into the box. She'd let fate decide which polar bear to bring home.

…

Twenty minutes in the Build-A-Bear store had turned into thirty, once Skye had spotted the clothing for the bears and had been assured that she _could _pick out an outfit for the polar bear. A large part of Phil was thrilled that she had chosen the Captain America outfit for the arctic bear; he texted Melinda exactly this as he was letting her know of their delayed arrival to the car.

"So," Phil asked, hovering over Skye as she sat at the tiny computer desk in the store, "what are you going to call him...or her?"

It had taken the little girl a good ten minutes to fill in the rest of the information of the bear's birth certificate, needing a little help from Phil for some of the larger words, but now she was looking from the bear to the computer screen with a little frown on her face.

"He's a boy. And m'not sure." She cocked her head at the white teddy bear, dressed to the nines in its Cap costume. "What's your name, little polar bear?"

The bear failed to reply, or at least Phil didn't hear him reply, but Skye leaned close to the teddy, nodded and began slowly typing a name into the computer. She paused, finger hovering over the keys, and turned to Phil.

"How do you spell 'snow'?" She asked. "I put that, but it doesn't look right."

Phil crouched down by the screen. So far, Skye had typed 'Mr. Sno' in the name box.

"You almost got it, Skye. You just need a 'w' on the end."

"Cool. So, this is Mr. Snow, the polar bear. Y'know, because he lives in the snow." She said seriously. Phil smirked at her. As cute as Skye was, he had to admit, her ability to name stuffed animals was mediocre at best. Perhaps Tasha could suggest a first name for Mr. Snow when she came home.

Phil printed off the 'birth certificate' for Mr. Snow and checked the time on his phone. "Okay, c'mon, Skye. We better go find Mel at the car."

But Skye didn't seem to have heard him. All of her attention remained on the black glittery spider, high up on a shelf. Phil followed her gaze.

"Does Mr. Snow need a friend?" He asked.

"Huh?"

"The spider. We could get it, so that Mr. Snow could have a friend."

"I don't want it for me, though." Skye said quietly, standing to collect the print out of the 'birth certificate' and tucking Mr. Snow under the other arm. "I think that Natasha would like to have a spider. One she could hug. For a present, when she comes home."

Phil felt his heart melting. Like, he was _actually _concerned that it could be a serious medical condition caused by the absolute adorableness of his little girl. "You'd like to get Nat a present?"

Skye looked at the ground. "If…yeah…unless, unless you think she wouldn't like it, then it doesn't matter." Skye said quickly, blushing. "She probably would think it was stupid. She's a big girl. It doesn't matter."

"Skye, I think Natasha would _love _it if you got her the spider." Phil smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"But we have to go and find Mel."

"Let me worry about that." He smiled, already constructing a text to Melinda with his free hand, and steering Skye over to the bin of spiders with his other.

…

While texting Phil back, letting him know that she was fine waiting for him and Skye in the car, and laughing to herself at the glee she could just imagine on her husband's face when Skye chose the Cap outfit for her bear, Mel's phone began to ring.

"Hey, Maria." Mel said, propping her feet up on the dash as she answered. What Phil didn't know wouldn't hurt him. "Calling me on a Sunday from the gym? I assume it's not just to say 'Hi'."

"Yeah." Maria dragged out the word. "I'm sorry. I know you wanted some time away from work to be with the kid, but we've got a couple of issues with some orders that need to go through early tomorrow…" The woman trailed off apologetically and Mel shook her head in amusement.

"Let me guess, you need Phil or I to sign off on them?"

"I'm _so sorry_, Mel." Maria apologised again. "I know you both wanted to work from home until the kid got settled in, but I promise this will take five minutes, tops." Maria prattled guiltily, making Mel laugh.

"Calm down. It's fine. We're at the mall, we'll come by afterwards."

"You sure? How's it going, anyway?" Her friend asked.

"Maria," Mel smiled to herself, "she's incredible."

"The kid? What's her name?"

"Skye. And I'm telling you, Maria, she's just amazing."

Mel heard her laugh on the other end of the phone. "Sounds like you're smitten with that kid, Mel. I can't wait to meet the munchkin."

"You'll love her, too." Mel smiled. Maria would. Maria generally wasn't a 'kid' person. She taught kickboxing classes at the gym along with a handful of other classes, but avoided teaching kids at all costs. Despite this, Mel _knew _Maria would appreciate Skye's sass and wicked sense of humour. Plus, no matter what Maria claimed, they all knew she was a sucker for the cute kids, and if Skye was one thing, she was damn cute.

"Aw crap." Maria mumbled. "Mel I gotta, go. Stark's just walked in and I'm already seconds from punching him."

"_Hey!" _Mel heard Tony shout in the background, and laughed. The billionaire often frequented the gym, Mel suspected, only to irritate her staff.

"Okay, Maria. I'll see you later." Mel laughed, shaking her head.

As she ended the call, the back door of the car opened and Mel turned just in time to see Skye launch herself into her car seat, grinning madly.

"Hi!" She smiled brightly, and Mel smirked at the toys under each of Skye's arms.

"You look like you got some new friends there." Mel smiled.

Skye blushed. "They're not _both_ mine, though."

"But you know it would be okay if they were, right?" Phil said, buckling Skye's belt. "I wanted to buy you the toys, you don't need to feel guilty."

"Kay."

"So, are you going to introduce me to your new friends?" Mel asked, nodding at the bear and the spider. She smiled. "Is that bear wearing a Captain America outfit?"

Skye nodded enthusiastically. "He's a polar bear."

"Mr. Snow." Phil said, getting in the drivers side. He frowned at Mel. "What, were you raised in a barn? Feet off the dash." Mel rolled her eyes, but put her feet down. "Honestly, Mel. You're worse than the kids. Isn't she, Skye?"

Skye shrugged and went back to doting on Mr. Snow, stroking the fur of his paw.

"Who's the spider, then, baby?" Mel asked.

"She's a present for, Natasha." Skye smiled. "Her name is Charlotte. Like in the story book."

Melinda looked to Phil, but continued speaking to Skye. "You got Nat a gift?"

"Yeah. It's a coming home present, so she'll like me."

"Oh, baby." Mel's heart broke. "Nat's gonna love you no mater what. You don't need to get her a gift for her to love you."

"But, do you think she'll like her?" Skye fiddled with a purple foot. "Because she's got a pet spider."

"I think that she will be very grateful that you got her a gift, and I know she'll love Charlotte the spider." Mel said. "Right, Phil?"

"Right." He said, pulling out of the parking lot. "You're very generous, Skye."

Skye made a face. "But _you _paid for it."

"Not the point." He smirked. "It's the thought that counts."

Skye nuzzled her face into the fur of Charlotte the spider. "Yeah." She murmured into the toy. "And I'll take care of Charlotte until Natasha gets here."

Mel turned back to the front window and tapped Phil on the shoulder. "Gym." She said. "There's a shipping issue. Needs one of our Hancocks on it. Maria called."

"I swear to God, if neither one of us are there for any longer than a day, the place starts falling apart." He said, though he was smiling.

"Mm. Maria was ready to kill Stark by the sounds of things. But she's excited to meet, Skye." Mel turned in her seat. "We're going to the gym, Skye."

Skye smiled. "What you own?" Mel nodded. "Can I see the trampolines?"

"Sure thing, baby." Melinda laughed. She loved children's priorities. "You can bounce while Phil and I do boss stuff."

"'Cos you're the bosses, like it says on your bedroom door." Skye smiled but then a little crinkle appeared on her forehead. "Are you good bosses, or mean bosses?"

"Oh," Phil laughed, "we are _the best _bosses. We even give our employees dental."

"I don't know what that is…"

Mel smirked. "Just know that in adult world, it's pretty awesome."

"Kay." Skye leaned her head to one side, watching out the window of the car. Her fingers ran through the fur of Mr. Snow as her thumb crept up to her mouth. "I'm glad you're nice."

…

Skye had never been to a gym before, or at least as far as she could remember, but even with nothing to compare it to, the Coulson's gym was _massive_. They pulled up outside of the building, parking right outside the front door. Skye craned her head to look out of the front window at the stream of people coming and going from the building.

Melinda opened the car door for Skye and helped her out of the vehicle. She thought she or Phil might make her leave Mr. Snow and Charlotte in the car, but neither said anything about the toys. "We're going to see a few of our friends, okay?"

"Kay." Skye hugged Mr. Snow and Charlotte closer to her chest, just to make sure they wouldn't get scared when she took them inside.

"And then maybe you can have some time on the trampoline?" Phil smiled.

That sounded pretty awesome to Skye. Trampolines, in her experience, were always fun, but the idea that Mel and Phil were going to leave her on her own whilst they did 'boss stuff' was a little scary. Mr. Snow and Charlotte didn't want Mel and Phil to leave them alone.

"I wanna stay with you." Skye said. It was difficult to manoeuvre both toys into one arm, but she managed it, just so she could cling onto Melinda's hand. "I'll stay with you."

Melinda stroked the back of Skye's hand with her thumb. "Maybe you and I could go bouncing, and leave Phil to do the boring things. That sound a little better?"

It did. Much better. And Skye nodded enthusiastically in reply.

They entered the gym, and immediately Skye felt herself feeling a little anxious. Mr. Snow and Charlotte felt scared, too, so Skye cuddled closer to Melinda, just to make sure they felt better. There were lots of people around. Some kids, too, but mostly adults, _really _big adults.

Phil jogged over to a blonde man who Skye thought was pretty scary looking. He was huge. His arms were bigger than her head and even though he was laughing with Phil, the man was still intimidating.

"You okay, baby?" Mel asked, squeezing her hand.

"Mr. Snow and Charlotte are scared." Skye said, because maybe Mel would know how to make them feel better.

"Oh no. What are they frightened of?"

"Just…" She eyed the big man talking with Phil. "Some of the people are scary."

Mel crouched down. "Hmm. How could we make them feel better?"

Skye considered this. Mr. Snow was brave because he was Captain America, and Charlotte was a brave spider because she belonged to Natasha, but it was still scary. "Maybe they need cuddles?"

"I think we can do cuddles." Melinda smiled and picked up Skye.

It took a little shifting to get Skye and both toys comfortably on Melinda's hip, but once they were situated, Skye certainly felt better. And so did Mr. Snow and Charlotte.

"Are they feeling a little better?" Mel asked, and kissed Skye's cheek.

"Yes. But Charlotte and Mr. Snow need kisses, too."

"Kisses for Mr. Snow." Mel said, and kissed the polar bear. "Kisses for Charlotte." And kissed the Spider. "_And _kisses for Skye." Mel kissed Skye again.

"They feel better now." Skye said. Melinda was smiling at her as she walked them over to the front desk, but Skye didn't want her to feel left out. "But you gotta have kisses, too."

"And who will give me kisses?" Mel said.

"Me."

"Oh, well that's lovely." Mel grinned in a way that made Skye feel happy. She decided, right there, that she would work hard everyday to make sure she made Melinda smile like that.

Starting with, giving her kisses.

"Cheek kisses." Skye said, and kissed each of Melinda's cheeks. "And nose kiss." She pecked Mel's nose, giggling softly when the woman scrunched it up.

"Mel!" Someone called from behind them.

Skye turned as Mel did, to see a dark-haired woman, dressed in sporting clothes, jogging over to them.

"Skye, this is my best friend, Maria." Mel introduced as the woman approached. "She works here at the gym."

Mr. Snow and Charlotte were feeling a little shy, so Skye cuddled into Melinda a bit more, but smiled at Maria. Maria smiled back and gave her a little wave.

"Hey there, Skye. I've heard a lot about you." Maria said.

Skye frowned. "You have?" She asked in a very small voice, because Mr. Snow was still being shy.

Maria paused, half way through tying up her hair. "Well," she dragged out the word, "actually no. That's a lie. Mel told me like three sentences about you on the phone, but there were _awesome _sentences."

Skye laughed. She liked Maria. Maria was funny.

"_Anyway,_" She continued, "I know I promised I wouldn't keep you long so I gave Phil all the shipping stuff to sign. He's taking it to the offices with Steve. I told them to get a move on but Stark is hovering up there for unknown reasons so they could be up there for hours." Maria rolled her eyes.

"Actually, he can take his time." Mel said. "Skye and I are going to do some trampolining. Aren't we?" She bounced Skye on her hip.

"Uh-huh." Skye said. "You could come, too, Maria." She added. Skye didn't want Maria to be lonely. She _was _Melinda's best friend, after all.

Maria grinned. "Oh, I'd love to!" She turned to Mel as they began walking away from the front desk. "You were right, Mel. I do like this kid."

Melinda pecked Skye's forehead. "Told you."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: SmudgeQueen, you rock. Thanks again for the edit. I'm in love with it. :D**

**Review please! xxx**


	7. Skye's Best Friend

**A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews and kind words. They really mean a lot. Also thanks to all of you i've been PMing and emailing. It's lovely to talk.**

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><p>This would be Skye's fourth school. She had moved more than that, but when returning to St. Agnes', Skye had always gone back to same school, the same as all the other kids at the orphanage because it was only down the street and they could all walk there. That school sucked. Her teacher was mean and the other kids were mean, and they didn't have many soccer balls so Skye never got a turn at kicking.<p>

Skye was in second grade. Technically, she was old enough to be in third grade, but after the summer was over and she returned to her old school and to the orphanage, it had apparently been decided by someone high-up that Skye go back and repeat the second grade. Something to do with her "_behavioural issues and learning difficulties". _That meant she was 'bad and stupid'. Of course this had meant since the end of August, Skye had been forced to sit in a classroom five days a week with a teacher she hated, and kids who teased her for being held back.

Skye _hated _school.

"Why do I have to go to school?" She asked.

"Because it's the law." Phil answered. "You have to."

"How comes I can't go into the third grade class?" Skye asked from the back of the car as Phil drove them to the school.

"Well," he smiled at her via the rear-view mirror, "you were in second grade in your other school, so we thought it would be best if you went into second grade in this school."

She hugged Mr. Snow to her chest, and rubbed one of Charlotte's purple feet on her nose until the skin tingled. "I don't wanna go to school."

Mel was sat in the back with her and she kept stroking Mr. Snow's fur because Skye had told her how he sometimes got nervous.

"Why don't you want to go to school?" Mel asked.

Skye shrugged. "'Cos."

"'Cos' is not an answer."

"Teachers are mean." Skye huffed. She knew that wasn't entirely true. Her teacher who had given her the Euro coin had been nice, and the teaching assistant at her last school who came in once a week to help her read was nice, but the idea of a new school with a new teacher and new people was just scary. "I don't wanna go."

Mel stroked Skye's cheek instead of Mr. Snow's fur. It felt nice and Skye closed her eyes for a second. "I promise, your new teacher is _not _going to be mean, okay?"

"You _sure?"_

"I'm very sure. Pepper-,"

"Miss Potts." Phil corrected.

Mel rolled her eyes. "Right, _Miss Potts _is a very good teacher. And she's never mean to those who don't deserve it."

That all sounded pretty good to Skye. And Mel and Phil had never lied to her yet, so there was no reason to think she shouldn't believe them, but time would only tell.

"How comes you know my teacher, again?"

"Miss Potts used to teach at our gym." Phil said.

"Oh yeah." Skye remembered. "Yoga." She sat quietly for a minute, watching the trees out of the window. "What's yoga?"

Phil laughed. "It's kind of like stretching, or like, super slow dancing."

Skye grimaced. That sounded super boring, she would much rather go on the trampolines with Mel and Maria. That was way more fun than _stretching_ would have been.

Skye looked back out of the window as Phil pulled into the school's parking lot. It was almost empty, just a few other cars parked near the entrance to the school, but no other kids around at the early hour. The bubbles Skye felt in her tummy started to get stronger when Phil turned off the engine and Mel unbuckled her seatbelt.

"You're going to have to leave Mr. Snow and Charlotte in the car." Phil said with an apologetic smile. "They'll still be here when we pick you up."

Skye knew that was coming. She wasn't stupid, she knew that she wouldn't be allowed to take them into the school with her, but she had hoped. Mr. Snow didn't like being left all on his own. Even when he was wearing his Captain America costume, he still felt worried. Charlotte was maybe a bit braver because she was Natasha's spider.

"Is Natasha brave?" Skye asked, stroking Charlotte's glittery fur.

Mel looked over at Phil, then back to Skye. She had a little frown on her face but she didn't seem mad, just confused.

"You want to know if Natasha's brave?" Mel said.

"Yes."

Mel smiled. "Natasha, well, she's very brave. _Very _brave."

That was good, because that meant Charlotte was brave too, and she could take care of Mr. Snow when Skye wasn't there. They'd look after each other.

Skye got out of her car seat and arranged Mr. Snow and Charlotte on it so that they were hugging each other, the seatbelt fastened over them to keep them safe. She kissed each of them in turn and told them to make good choices, just in case they forgot, like she sometimes did. Sometimes Skye only remembered to be good after doing something bad, so she knew it was important to remind them.

"Let's go." Skye said, and picked up her new backpack Phil and Mel had bought her yesterday, put in on her shoulder and walked up to the school bravely. Skye could be brave.

She turned to see Mel and Phil watching her from the car. "You guys coming? I gotta meet my teacher, you know."

…

Something about learning that Nat was brave, had apparently given little Skye an enormous amount of courage, and she had abandoned Phil and Mel to march up the school on her own. She shouted after them when they both failed to immediately follow.

"We're coming, we're coming." Phil called back, then turned to Mel. "What just happened?"

She laced her fingers with his and they followed Skye to the entrance. "I have no idea." She answered. "We haven't had a little one in a while and my child-logic appears to be a little rusty."

"I don't think much logic may apply to Skye." Phil smirked as they caught up her. "You're unique, huh?" He patted Skye's hair.

"What's that mean?"

Mel reached her other hand out and Skye took it, leaning into her side as the doors were opened for them. "It means your special."

Skye allowed herself to be led into the school, eyes immediately tracking the walls and all of the student's work displayed to them. "Am I special?" She asked.

"Baby," Mel squeezed her hand, "you're very special. And don't you ever forget that, okay?"

"'Kay." Skye said quietly, although Mel suspected she was only half listening. Skye's grip on her fingers had tightened as they approached Pepper's classroom. "Is that my teacher?"

Pepper Potts stood smiling at the entrance to her classroom, looking about as threatening as a teddy bear in footie pyjamas, but Skye still pressed herself so far into Mel's side that she was almost hidden behind her. The previous gusto she had gained seemingly out of nowhere had apparently dissipated, and at the frightened look on her little girl's face, all Mel really wanted to do was to pick her up and take her home. But that wouldn't do well for anyone. Skye needed to go to school, even if her little face was breaking Melinda's heart.

"Hi, there." Pepper smiled at Skye, crouching down beside her. "My name is Miss Potts, I'm your knew teacher."

"Yeah, I know." Skye mumbled into Mel's side.

Pepper's smile never wavered, and the most shocking thing Melinda found about Pepper, something she had noticed from the very first day she had met the young woman almost seven years ago, was that each and every Pepper Potts smile was genuine. The woman had the patience of a saint (though being in a relationship with the worlds most infuriating man probably required that), which is why she was the perfect teacher for Skye. Maybe the perfect teacher for most other kids, too. It was the same reason Melinda had eagerly written a letter of recommendation for Pepper and Tony to foster when they had asked.

"It's so lovely to see you guys." Pepper grinned at Phil and Mel. She waved her hand towards the classroom. "Come on in, we've got a half hour before the rest of the kids start getting here."

There were three chairs set out in front of Pepper's desk. Phil sat in one, and Melinda intended to sit in the one furthest away from him to allow Skye the middle chair, but the little girl was still glued to her side, so Mel sat in the middle seat and pulled Skye onto her lap instead. Skye held both of Mel's hands around her waist.

"How about we get the boring stuff out of the way?" Pepper asked, the question directed at Skye, although the little girl failed to answer.

"Sure thing, Pep." Phil said.

"Okay, I got a letter of record from Skye's previous teacher." She gave Mel a wary look. "It's not particularly…pleasant." She settled on.

"She didn't like me." Skye mumbled.

Either Pepper didn't hear her or simply chose not to acknowledge the comment. "I'd prefer not to discuss the specifics." She frowned at the paper in front of her. "I'll give you a copy when you leave, but generally, there's a couple of things I'd like to discuss."

"Go ahead." Phil said.

"Now, Skye's behaviour at school," Pepper began and Melinda couldn't miss the way Skye tensed on her lap. "It seems to have reached a point where it has become a concern. You've a little red flag on your report here, Skye."

"I was bad at school." Skye said.

"I see. Do you think we can maybe work on that? You can try and be good in the classroom, here?"

Skye nodded.

"Good. So next port of call is Skye's grades." Pepper smiled. "I don't want to discuss too much today, just that I think getting Skye some extra help in the classroom might be a good idea."

"Whatever you think is best." Mel said. She trusted Pepper's judgement. Bobbi and Natasha had both needed a little help at school (okay, a lot of help in Nat's case) but they had both been much older than Skye. Even in her and Phil's avid experience with fostering kids, Skye was one of the youngest, and Mel still felt a little in over her head sometimes.

"Fantastic. So, Skye, how are you feeling?" Pepper asked.

"'M'okay, I guess." She said.

"Yeah? Because I know starting a new school can be scary. Are you feeling a bit scared?"

Skye leaped off Melinda's lap and stood in front of Pepper's desk with folded arms. The gusto was back.

"Miss Potts," Skye addressed, "I'm not scared of _anything_."

Pepper looked as shocked as Melinda felt at Skye's sudden change of pace, but didn't let it affect her. "Wow, that's impressive. I thought everyone was scared of _something_."

"Not me. I'm not scared." Skye dumped herself into the empty seat.

"Are you maybe a tiny bit nervous about starting a new school, making new friends?" Pepper smiled again. "Because that would be okay."

"No." Skye's expression changed to one of anger. "No!"

"Hey, it's alright." Mel said, putting a hand on Skye's shoulder. Skye dropped her head onto her hand, trapping it there. "You want to tell Miss Potts about who's coming to visit soon?" Skye's expression softened, the anger ebbing away with the distraction of Mel's question.

"Natasha's comin' home." Skye said. She freed Mel's hand but held it in her lap instead.

"She is?" Pepper grinned at Phil and Mel. "When? Oh, I'd love to see her."

"Friday." Phil answered. "She's coming down with Clint for a week."

"Are you excited, Skye?" Pepper asked.

Skye frowned and cocked her head. "I think so. Maybe." She looked to Melinda. "I don't wanna go to school. Please, I wanna go home." She sniffed. "Can we go home, please?"

God, if she could only wrap this baby girl up in cotton wool and keep her safe and happy in their home, she would do it. She knew Phil would, too, in a heartbeat, but that wasn't how kids healed. That wasn't how you helped put these kids back together. It had broken Mel's heart when Bobbi had gone to school for weeks with speaking a word to anyone there, but it had worked out in the end, she had made friends and gone off to college and been happy. And it had broken her heart when she'd had to pick Natasha up from school every time she got into a fight, and had begged Mel not to make her go back, but then she had met Clint and look at Nat now. Both of her older girls had been in Skye's position but they were beautiful, smart, caring young women now, and Melinda couldn't be prouder of them.

Skye's bottom lip was wobbling and her eyes were wet, and it took all of the inner strength Melinda could muster to kneel in front of her and break her heart.

"I'm so sorry, baby, but you need to stay at school." Mel said. "I know it's scary-,"

"M'not scared."

"-and I know you didn't used to like school, but Miss Potts is going to take care of you. And Phil and I will come pick you up this afternoon and take you home, okay?"

Skye wasn't quite crying, but Mel could tell she was only _just _holding it together, perhaps because Pepper was there in the room. She couldn't just take her home and hide Skye from the world, but there was still fifteen minutes until school started, and she'd be damned if she wasn't going to look after her little girl until then.

"Come here, baby." Mel held her arms out and Skye fell into them, allowing herself to be picked up, wrapping her legs around Mel's waist. Melinda couldn't see it, but she could hear the sound of Skye's thumb moving in her mouth, covered by a curtain of her dark hair so Phil and Pepper would be non the wiser.

A boy peeked his head around the door and smiled at Pepper. "Can I come in yet?" He asked, eyeing Mel and Phil.

"Go play in the gym for a little longer, okay?" Pepper said and he nodded and ran off. "How about we have a little tour?" Pepper asked. "So Skye knows where everything is."

…

Mel and Phil left her in the classroom with Miss Potts when the school bell rang. Skye didn't want them to leave her. She didn't want to be left all on her own at school, but Melinda promised they would come back and get her this afternoon, and she had given Skye a really, _really _good hug that kind of made Skye want to cry. But she didn't, because Skye could be brave, just like Natasha and Charlotte.

"So this is where you're going to sit, Skye." Miss Potts said.

The seat was pretty close to Miss Potts' desk but wasn't on the front row of chairs. It was on the end of a row of desks, and she could see her cubby and hook on the other side of the classroom, so that her coat and backpack were in sight. That was good. Even though she had left all of her special things at home, because Phil said the house was much safer for them than school, Skye still wanted to be able to see her stuff.

"Why don't you put your name on the front of this workbook?" Miss Potts gave her a book and Skye was maybe a little excited to get to use her new pens in her new pencil case.

She wanted to make her name neat on the front of the book, so that it would look nice when Miss Potts saw it, so Skye spent extra time joining up the 'y' and the 'e' even though that was sometimes what she found the hardest.

"You gotta put your last name on, too."

Skye jumped. She hadn't felt anyone approach her, but a boy had sat down in the seat next to her, leaning over to see what she was writing on her book. He pointed at her name.

"Skye?" He said. "Is that your name?"

"Um," Skye hesitated. The boy was pretty big, much bigger than her, and the room was getting noisy as more kids arrived and sat down. A couple of them were staring at her. "Yes. I'm Skye."

The boy smiled at her. "Hello, Skye. I'm Grant Ward. I saw you this morning with your parents, and you need to put your last name on your book, too."

"Oh." Skye looked down at her book and felt her cheeks heating up. "I, um, I don't have one. Just Skye."

Grant Ward looked at her strangely and sat back in his seat. "How come?"

Skye wasn't sure how to explain it. This would be her first new school where she was entering as _Skye _and not _Mary Sue Poots_. It was hard to explain. "I don't know."

"What's your Mom and Dad's last name?" He asked.

She _really _didn't want the kids to know she was an orphan, and a few more had turned around in their seats to listen in on her and Grant's conversation. "Um," Skye panicked, "It's 'Coulson'." She said without thinking.

"So you're name is 'Skye Coulson'. You should put that on your book." Grant said.

He was watching her expectantly, so Skye leaned over her book and added 'Coulson' to her name. Part of her felt a little guilty for not even asking Phil or Mel to borrow their last name, the other part of Skye felt really good about it. Skye Coulson had a nice ring to it.

"Okay, class." Miss Potts called, getting their attention.

Skye put down her pen to listen to Miss Potts properly.

"Now it's a new week, and a new start. So what will we make sure to do all week?"

"_Do our best." _The rest of the class said in chorus. Skye assumed that this was a regular thing.

"Right." Miss Potts smiled. "And this week is a very special week because we have a new student joining us."

Skye _really _felt her cheeks getting hot. Grant Ward turned to look at her, smiling in a friendly way, but it meant that all of the other students turned in their seats to look at her, too. She had had a lot of 'first days', but this awkward introduction was something Skye had never managed to get used to.

"This is Skye. She's joining our school because she recently moved house, so can we all be kind and welcoming to her?"

Really, Skye was just glad Miss Potts hadn't mentioned anything about her being fostered; that was usually the first line out of teacher's mouths. Maybe it was because she was friends with Mel and Phil.

"Right, now." Miss Potts moved over to the board. "This week our special topic is going to be 'the World'. Who can tell me the name of a different country? Hands up."

The class put their hands up and shouted out names of countries, which Miss Potts labelled on the big map she had on her wall. Skye had been preparing herself for the 'tell the class a bit about you' part of the day, but it never came.

Miss Potts didn't pick on her to speak when she didn't want to, and she didn't make her read from the board like her old teacher had. They learned some words from different languages, and Miss Potts asked for volunteers to say them out loud to the rest of the class, and Skye _almost _put her hand up to say "Bonjour" because she already knew that word from one of her old schools, but then she got a little worried and just stayed quiet. Skye even got to use her new coloured pens to colour in some flags on a worksheet Miss Potts gave them.

"How come you know the French flag without the help sheet?" Grant Ward asked her. He was colouring in his flags meticulously, keeping in the lines and taking much longer than Skye's half-hearted scribbles.

"I learned about France in one of my old schools." Skye said.

"Oh. I though you might be French." Grant said.

"I'm not French."

"Well, I know that now." Grant grinned at her. "See, we're learning about each other. Making friends."

Skye frowned at him. That was _not _the feeling she had been getting from the conversation. "We're friends?"

"Sure."

"Okay."

And that was how Skye made her first friend at her new school. Simple as that. Well, Skye had to admit, she didn't really have much going on in the process, Grant mostly did the work, but it was nice to have someone to talk to when recess rolled around.

"How is it going, Skye?" Miss Potts asked her as they filed out into the playground.

"Good."

Grant Ward stood next to her. Standing up he was even bigger than Skye had first thought. He was easily the tallest in the class, almost up to Miss Potts' shoulders.

"I see you made a friend." She smiled at Grant and he grinned back. "Are you going to make sure Skye's okay, Grant?"

"Yep. And I'm gonna make sure everyone's nice to her."

"That's very kind of you." She turned to Skye. "Grant knows how it is to come to a new class, don't you?"

Grant looked a little sad for a second, and Skye felt mad that Miss Potts had done that, but he smiled again really quickly. "Come on, Skye, let's go outside. Bye, Pep- Miss Potts."

They playground at Skye's new school was way better than the one at her old one. Grant led her over to the jungle gym, where lots of the kids in her class were playing.

"I like climbing stuff." He said. "At home, I climb the trees in the back yard, and I've only fell out of 'em like, four or five times."

"Cool." Skye said. "I like climbing, too. And I like jumping out of things." She thought back to her pretend parachuting off the top of the bunk beds at St. Agnes's. "I like to pretend I'm jumping out of a plane."

"That's awesome." Grant jumped and grabbed onto the monkey bars. "You're like a spy. Agent Skye."

Skye grinned. "Yeah. And you can be Agent Ward."

"We can be a team of spies who jump out of planes and save the world." Grant dropped down onto the chipped bark. "Will you be my best friend, Skye?"

Skye had never had a best friend before, but Agent Ward seemed to be a good friend to make, and if they were going to be partners on their spy team, they should be best friends.

"Okay. I'll be your best friend."

"Great! Now, let's play tag. Tag!" Ward tapped her shoulder, a lot more gently than Skye had braced for, and ran away.

She raced after her new best friend.

…

"I'm going to have an aneurism." Mel said, entering Phil's office without knocking. She waved the letter from Skye's old teacher in hand. "And I'm also going to kill this bitch for bad-mouthing my child."

He had also read the letter. It had been less than complimentary.

Phil looked over to her from his computer with an amused smirk. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I am kind of loving that for once you're the one freaking out, and I'm the calm one."

She glared at him and came fully into the room, closing the door behind her so the other employees wouldn't simply walk in. "I'm not _freaking out_." She crumpled the letter and threw it behind the office couch.

"You so are." Phil said, spinning his chair around to face her. "C'mere." He held his arms out and Mel walked over to him and dropped down onto her husband's lap. He nuzzled her cheek as her arms went around him. "You're freaking out, and I totally get why, and I think that it is the most precious thing."

"You're making me sound like I'm going soft."

"Oh, please. You went soft the day the first kid came to stay and there was no going back once Bobbi came into the picture." Phil smiled as he thought back to those days so long ago when they hadn't even considered looking after kids for any longer than a few weeks at a time. Then Bobbi came along and stole their hearts and that was that.

"God, I miss her." Mel mumbled.

"Skye?"

She snorted. "Well yeah, but I was talking about Bobbi." Mel cuddled more into his side. "I swear next time she comes home I'm never letting her leave the country again."

"That means Hunter will have to stay, too." Phil shook his head. "I'm not entirely sure how long I can put up with my daughter's boyfriend for."

"You managed to live with Clint for over a year."

Phil pulled away to frown at his wife. "To be fair, I had no idea that he and Nat were anything more then best friends for like six months of that."

"That's your problem." She smirked. "Sometimes you're not very observant."

"You didn't say anything and you _knew _they were…" Phil trailed off and used a vague hand gesture to illustrate his point.

"Having sex." Mel supplied.

"Oh dear god, Melinda! _Stop!" _Phil shuddered. No. He still stood by the notion that both Nat and Bobbi were completely celibate. "No. No."

"They're growing up, Phil. You can't keep your head in the sand forever."

"Yes I can. So far it's going really great."

Mel laughed but kissed him gently. "You're their daddy, I guess it's okay for you to pretend they're still just kids."

Phil kissed her again. "It's frightening how quickly our kids have grown up."

"I know. We're so old. Skye has to stay a baby forever." Mel sniggered to herself, but then her expression turned serious. "She'll be okay, right?"

"At school? I'm sure she will. Pepper would let us know if things weren't going well." Phil assured her.

There was a knock at Phil's door and Antoine Triplett walked in with a file and a frown on his face.

"Hey, Phil, can you sign-oh God." He covered his eyes with the file and stumbled back against the door frame. "Ew, you guys shouldn't be doing _that _at work."

Phil couldn't help himself. He laughed into Mel's shoulder, and could feel the way she laughed with him, still sitting on his lap.

"Calm down, Trip. We're only hugging." He smiled.

Trip still held the file over his face. "Promise that if I move this file, you're not going to be canoodling?"

Melinda slid off Phil's lap and moved over to the couch. "Promise. Now what's up?"

Trip slowly lowered the file, the expression on his face relaxing when he saw the two of them were no longer 'canoodling'.

"I just came to see if you could sign this." Trip said. "Either of you, really."

Phil held his hand out for the file and Trip passed it over to him. "I'll do it." He signed the top document and turned back to see Trip sitting down by Melinda, giving her a hug.

"Hi, Mel." Trip greeted. "Where's the new little one? Maria told me all about her. Apparently she's pretty cute."

"She is." Mel turned to Trip and patted his cheek. "Skye even gives little you a run for your money. And you were pretty damn cute."

"I'm twenty seven, Mel, don't baby me." Trip pouted. "And I think I'm still pretty cute." He beamed.

"And so modest, too." Phil laughed.

Trip shot him an air gun. "You got it, Phil. I'm practically perfect in every way." He laughed and stood up, hand out for the folder.

Phil handed it back to him, but pulled it away at the last second. "In all seriousness-,"

"Oh dear." Trip said with a look to Mel. "Is he getting sentimental again?"

Mel smiled. "It's about time, really. I've spent the past few days being the soft one apparently. He's probably been saving it all up to gush over you."

"Shut up and let me tell my boy how proud I am of him." Phil huffed and stood before Trip. "I just want you to know that Mel and I are _so _proud of all you've done."

"Don't make me cry, Phil." Trip said.

"We love you so much, Trip and I know I tell you this often, but I just want you to know that I didn't employ you because of who you are to us-,"

"Phil-,"

"-I want you working for me because you're the best at what you do. Whether it's up here in administration or down in the gym. Trip, you're one of the best workers we've ever had."

Trip looked down. "Thank you. I'm…I just…thanks." He looked to Mel. "Both of you."

Mel stood and pulled Trip into a hug. "Thank _you. _Before you stayed with us, Phil and I were just kids who wanted to help kids. You really showed us how to be parents."

"For what's it's worth," Trip smiled at both of them, "you're awesome parents."

"Oh, you're too kind." Phil pulled him into a hug and kissed him on the cheek, more because he knew Trip hated it. The young man wiped off his cheek, but he was grinning.

"So, when am I gonna get to meet Skye?"

"Soon." Mel said. "Nat's coming home on Friday."

Trip smiled and nodded. "Maria said. You want Skye to meet Nat first?" He guessed.

It had been something he and Mel had discussed when Skye was in bed. How best to introduce her to their miss-match family, and it seemed logical with Skye's interest in Nat after buying her Charlotte the spider, that they got her comfortable with her older sister, before introducing her to Trip and the others.

"I'm not going to stop you from meeting her, Trip." Mel said. "I just think if she gets to know Tasha first, the rest might go smoother?" It came out as a question and Phil found himself shrugging in response, without an answer. It was Trip who gave the best assurance.

Trip gave Mel a one armed hug and took the file from Phil with the other. He walked over to the door. "Maria said she was little shy, but you two are the best. I'm positive she'll be fine." He grinned. "Better than fine. Great. Awesome. Cool." Trip continued listing positive adjectives as he left the room and made his way down the hall.

Phil looked back to Melinda. She was smiling in the direction of Trip's exit.

"I love him." She said. "If I didn't already have a son, I'd want Trip to be my son."

Phil cocked an eyebrow at her. "You _don't _already have a son."

She looked at him like he was an idiot. "Clint."

"You know Clint isn't our son, right?" Phil smirked. This was discussion they had often. One of those little bickers they only had in order to irritate and amuse each other.

"Clint is practically my son." Mel said, crossing her legs and leaning back on the couch. "And anyway," she picked hat her fingernails with a smirk, "he'll be our son-in-law one day, I guarantee it."

Phil groaned. "Stop, Mel."

"You better get used to the idea sooner rather than later."

"She's nineteen, Mel, she's not getting married."

"Look at us."

"Nat's not us."

"Maybe not." Melinda smiled. "But your eldest daughter is twenty-five and-,"

Phil rubbed his face. "I refuse to believe that any of my children will be getting married any time soon. This is the end of the conversation."

Melinda huffed a little laugher. "Okay. I'll stop teasing you." She stood and walked back over to him now that Trip was gone, settling on his lap. Mel kissed him. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Phil kissed her nose. "Thank you for marrying me."

She smirked. "I was a naïve eighteen year old when I married you. I didn't know what I was getting myself into."

"Hmm. You act like I tricked you into marrying me."

Melinda smiled. "My mother still thinks you did."

"It's been twenty-five years." Phil huffed. "You'd think she would like me by now."

"She likes you plenty." Mel assured him. "She's just not very good at showing it."

"You can say that again."

"Hey." Mel warned. "That's my mother. Be nice, Philip."

He laughed and tickled her sides.

…

Skye supposed school wasn't _so _bad. Before home time, Miss Potts told them to get all of their stuff, put on their coats and come and sit on the story carpet, and she would read from their new book for the last ten minutes of the day. Grant had explained that when they started a new topic, Miss Potts would choose a new book and she would read it before they left each day. That was cool. Skye's old teacher made all the other kids read out in front of the class, and she always made Skye feel bad because some of the words were hard. Miss Potts didn't do that.

She had done some reading after lunch with Miss Potts while the rest of the class had some free time, but it was okay because she didn't have to do it in front of anyone except Miss Potts, and she wasn't the only one who had to do some one-on-one reading. Grant Ward's turn was after her and he didn't seem embarrassed about needing help to read, so Skye wasn't either.

Ward patted the rug next to him, and Skye sat down in the space.

"Do you like stories?" He asked while Miss Potts helped some of the others with their jackets.

"Yeah. I like them, but I'm not very good at reading." It seemed okay to tell Ward that because he was her best friend.

He nodded. "Yeah. Reading's hard. I'm good at math." He grinned. "Super good at math, but I've got dyslexia."

Skye cocked her head. "What's that?" It sounded like a disease. Grant didn't seem sick, though.

"It just means sometimes words are hard. Y'know like reading and spelling and stuff." He shrugged. "That's kind of why I got held back."

Skye's eyes widened. "You got held back?"

"Yeah. This is my second time in Pep-Miss Potts' class. At my old school they weren't very good." He explained and Skye nodded in understanding. "Miss Potts said that I got 'swept under the rug', whatever that means."

Skye shrugged. She didn't know either.

"But then I came to this school and I had Miss Potts to help me and I'm glad I got kept back because she's the greatest teacher ever." He looked over to Miss Potts with a smile. "She's the best."

"I'm supposed to be in the third grade. But I'm too stupid." Skye said.

Grant frowned. "Don't say that. You're not stupid." He smiled brightly at her and flung an arm over her shoulders. "And anyway, I'm almost ten. I'm meant to be in fourth grade. Does that make _me _stupid?"

"No, no, I didn't mean that." Skye panicked. She was going to lose her only best friend ever.

Ward smiled again. "It's okay. I know you didn't mean it. But it just proves you're not stupid, Skye Coulson." He held out his fist to her and Skye grinned as she fist-bumped her best friend.

Miss Potts began telling the story of four children who sailed around the world. It was silly and wasn't a _real _story, but it reminded Skye of _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_ and she liked that.

"Okay, kids, that's all we have time for today." There was a collective groan when Miss Potts had to stop reading part-way through. "We'll read some more tomorrow if we have time. Okay?" The class agreed. "See you all tomorrow, guys." She dismissed them, and the class raced out of the classroom door and into the playground.

A few of the kids shouted 'bye' to Skye as they passed. Skye didn't know all of the kids' names yet, so just called 'bye' back and followed Ward to the door. There were lots of people outside; kids, parents, teachers. The tightness in Skye's tummy returned after it had dissipated for most of the day, and she stood shyly on the steps.

"Can you see your mom and dad?" He asked, looking around.

Skye couldn't. Mel and Phil had promised to be there to pick her up when school ended, but she couldn't see their faces in the mass of other parents and students.

Someone tapped on Skye's shoulder, and she looked up to see Miss Potts smiling brightly at her. "Over there, honey." She pointed towards the edge of the playground, and Skye grinned when she caught sight of Melinda and Phil walking over.

"You look happy." Melinda said as she approached, and Skye skipped off the top step so that she could hug her. "Good day?" Mel kissed her head.

"Yeah. It was fun." Skye pulled back and hugged Phil.

"Great." He said. "I'm so glad."

Skye took Mel's hand.

"Skye did very well today." Miss Potts said. "She was great, if a little quiet, but I think her new friend might remedy that if their recess games are anything to go by."

"We played spies." Grant stated proudly. Her looked to Skye. "Is this your mom and dad?"

Skye looked up at Mel and Phil. Phil was smiling and Mel was brushing back Skye's hair as it blew into her face. She looked back at Ward. "Yeah. This is my mom and dad."

Mel's hand stilled on her head and the other gently squeezed her fingers.

"Hi, Skye's mom and dad. I'm Skye's best friend." Grant grinned.

"Best friend?" Phil asked.

"Yeah, we decided that today because we're gonna be spies, right Skye?"

"Yeah. Agent Skye and Agent Ward."

"You're Ward, then, I presume?" Mel asked.

Miss Potts put her hand on Grant's shoulder. "This is Grant Ward." She introduced with a grin. "I don't do favourites-,"

"But if you did, I'd be it? Right?" He beamed.

Miss Potts rolled her eyes. "Something like that. Grant here has been spending too much time with Tony, and his cockiness is rubbing off on him, I think."

Skye didn't know who Tony was, but when she looked back up and Mel and Phil, they both had strange looks on their faces. Mel was smiling with one eyebrow up and Phil looked like he had just solved a really hard math problem.

"So _you're _the Grant I've been hearing so much about." Phil smiled. "Tony's told me all about you. I'm glad we can finally meet."

Grant looked shocked. Skye was just confused. "You know Tony?"

"Are you kidding?" Phil laughed. "Stark Industries sponsors our gym. We get all our equipment from S.I."

Grant looked to Miss Potts. "They own SHIELD gym?" He asked and she nodded.

"Who's Tony?" Skye finally asked, when it became apparent that no one was going to tell her off the bat.

"Tony's Pepper's boyfriend. I mean, Miss Potts' boyfriend." Grant smiled up at her and she put and arm around his shoulders. "I live with them."

Skye felt her mouth drop open. "No wonder she's your favourite teacher."

Ward shrugged and hugged Miss Potts. She kissed the side of his head and Skye leaned closer to Mel. "Pepper and Tony take care of me because my mom can't anymore. But I like it here better anyway."

Ward was her best friend, but when he said that, Skye knew that they would be best friends forever. "I like it here better, too." She said. And maybe it would be okay to tell Ward about her life before Mel and Phil. It seemed like he might understand.

"Good." Grant said, smiling. "I'm glad you like it here Agent Skye Coulson."

"Thank you, Agent Grant Ward."

Yeah. Skye liked it here.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thank you to Stacy and Tayelor for letting me read your headcanons. I love them so much and I can't wait to read more! Also- Get well soon Tayelor! xxxx**

**Review please! xxx**


	8. Skye's Family

**A/N: Hope you enjoy this. Thanks for reading!**

* * *

><p>Melinda was waiting for the metaphorical other shoe to drop.<p>

Things with Skye were going far too well, which she knew sounded ridiculous, and when she had voiced this fear to Maria, the woman had laughed in her face and told her to make the most of the proverbial honeymoon period. But it was difficult.

Skye had been living with them for almost a week, and although they'd had their bumps in the first few days, since starting school, the little girl had barely been a bother.

With both Bobbi and Nat, the first few weeks had been the hardest. Every single day had been a battle of two extremes; silence with Bobbi, and the _opposite _with Nat. Melinda had needed to work constantly to gain their trust and get them to a healthy place. Bobbi refused to speak to anyone, and Nat, well the little English she _did _speak was picked up in a crack den so it was less than helpful to anyone unless they wanted to be screamed at and verbally abused.

Melinda could do _difficult_. She could make things better.

Skye, though, things were going really very well. Their little girl was being anything _but_ difficult. She had her little mood swings and was fiercely protective and secretive about some of her 'special things' hidden in her bedroom (Melinda was determined to find out what they were without being a snoop), but really she seemed to be okay. It just all seemed too good to be true.

Mel said as much to Phil in the car after dropping Skye off at her fourth day of school with no problems. She had hugged them goodbye, kissed her toys, and ran off to join Grant Ward in the playground. That first little speed bump on her first day was long forgotten and Pepper assured them that every day that Skye was settling in to the school and making friends really well, that neither of them should be worried.

"I'm worried." Mel said, ignoring Phil's frown and putting her feet up on the dash anyway. "I just feel like something's got to give, Phil."

"She's doing great." Phil sighed, evidently having given up hope of ever getting his wife to stop treating the car like a lounge. "This is the best time we've ever had with a kid. I know Skye's moods can sometimes be a little…sporadic," Mel nodded in agreement and thought back to the few times Skye had gone from happy-go-lucky to moody and quiet in five seconds flat for no apparent reason. "But she's doing great." Phil said. "What's there to worry about?"

Melinda sighed in frustration. "Everything. There's _everything _to worry about. You just don't get it."

"You're right, I don't. Please for the love of God explain it to me." Phil said, pulling into the space at the front of the gym. He turned off the engine but made no move to leave the car.

Melinda blew some hair out of her eyes and kept them trained forward on the automatic doors of the entrance. Each time they opened for someone to enter or leave the building, she got a glimpse of Maria lounging by the front desk with Steve, laughing at something one of the receptionists was saying. They would all pretend to have been working as soon as she and Phil went inside. They may be their best friends, but she and Phil still paid their wages.

Mel could probably insist they talk about this later, perhaps in one of their offices, but she knew all too well the workload that would be thrown on both of them as soon as they entered through the doors. Their staff were the best, they only hired the best, but even then, being the boss meant being very involved and therefore very busy. It was rare they got more than five minutes to themselves in the gym. Stark was due to come in at some point in the day and coping with him was like a three man job and she'd probably get roped into it.

Melinda sighed and pulled her knees up to her chest. The motion reminded her of Bobbi when she was little, and a new wave of anxiety washed over her as she thought of her eldest all he way across the globe. "I could handle Trip." Mel said. "He was ten and cried non–stop for days, but we helped him and then he was fine. No problems."

Phil reached over and laced his hand with hers.

"And Bobbi. Twelve and tiny and so shy she wouldn't even speak to usin the _house_. But we helped her and, God Phil, look at her now." Melinda smiled to herself as she thought of her eldest little girl, not so little or quiet anymore. "And Natasha."

Phil squeezed her hand and took a deep breath. "God, Natasha. Yeah."

"Yeah." Mel said. "She was, well…it took a while but we got there."

"We did." Phil agreed. "So why are you so concerned about Skye. She's doing great."

"Exactly." Mel looked over to him with a sad smile. "It's going too well, and you know just as well as I do that the other shoe will drop."

"We don't know that for sure, Mel. Skye just might not be as challenging as we were led to believe. It could be a good thing?" It came out as more of a question, and Mel wished she could agree.

"Even if only _half _of the things in Skye's file are true, we're up for a difficult time." She said. Phil nodded. "I think…" Mel looked back out of the window. "…I think that maybe our baby is going to be a slow burner. And we need to be prepared for her catching."

Melinda gripped Phil's hand and brought it up to her mouth to press a kiss to his knuckles. "I'm scared I'm not going to be enough for her. And…and I _cannot _fail her, Phil, I just can't."

Phil pulled his hand away from her and reached around to rub her neck gently. "Look at me."

Mel looked up at her husband.

"Don't you _dare _ever think that you are not good enough for that child, or any of our children, okay?" He said, tone leaving no room for argument. "I know I've done good for those kids. For Bobbi and Tash and Clint and even Trip, but you've _changed their lives, _Melinda."

"Phil-,"

"No, Mel. Listen. I know how you're feeling." He sighed. "I won't lie and try and tell you that it's all going to be plain sailing from here on out. I can't promise you that. Skye is a kid who has had more bad experiences than I've had hot meals, but I have every confidence in you, and you're not alone in this."

She shook her head. "You think too much of me, Philip."

"No I don't." He said, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "I could never, ever have cared for the kids without you. Never. I can do stories, and I can hug away nightmares, but I can't do that thing _you_ do. That's special."

Melinda frowned at him. She had absolutely no idea what the hell he was talking about. "You're amazing with the kids, Phil. It was your idea to start taking them in."

"But Mel," He laughed, "how can you not see what _you _do? You put these broken kids back together piece-by-piece. And sometimes I hand you the glue, or hold a couple of pieces until they're dry, but you're the sculptor."

Mel snorted. "Nice metaphor, you idiot." She made fun of him, but she was well aware that he knew what 'idiot' really meant.

"I love you, too." Phil smiled, and tugged her forward to kiss her gently. "Please don't worry about Skye." He said, bumping her nose with his. "I'm worried too, honestly. But we'll be fine. She'll be fine."

"Yeah." Mel kissed his cheek.

"We can do this, together we can do this." He smiled. "And lucky for Skye, she's getting the two best big sisters in the business."

Melinda laughed. "You're not wrong, there."

"Skye's going to be okay. You believe me?"

"I believe you. And thank you for letting me have that mini-breakdown." She laughed, composing herself enough to go to work. "I feel much better." And she did. As always, her husband had managed to soothe her fears with a few kind words and some kisses. Phil may have thought that she had a gift with the kids, but he always had a special power when it came to making Melinda feel better.

"No problem." Phil unbuckled his seatbelt. "You can repay the debt when it's my turn to have the freak-out."

"Give me the time and place, and I'll be there." She laughed.

…

School wasn't so bad, Skye thought.

Monday morning had been a little traumatic, especially when Phil and Mel first left, but then she had met Grant Ward and they had become best friends. After that, the week was much better.

On Tuesday Miss Potts taught them all about the continents, and Skye even put her hand up to tell the class how polar bears lived in the Arctic, where penguins lived in the Antarctic, so they never really met unless they were at a zoo. She got a sticker from Miss Potts for doing that with a happy bumble bee on it, and Skye got to wear it all day and even take it home and stick it on her bed, right on her headboard in the middle.

At recess, Agent Skye and Agent Ward teamed up with Captain America to defeat the red skull, and even though Ward didn't really know who Captain America was, he still played the game really well.

On Wednesday, they did reading in class in groups with Miss Potts. She moved the tables around and split them all into groups (Skye was with Grant so that was okay) and they each had to read sections from the book Miss Potts gave them. Skye liked hearing everyone else in her group read, especially when it was Ward's turn, and each time someone needed help with a word, Miss Potts helped and never sounded mad or shouted like her old teacher, but Skye still didn't want to. She would never cry in front of the other kids in case they teased her, but when Miss Potts asked Skye to read the next part of the story, she felt like it.

Then she got a bit mad, and she wanted to tear the stupid page out of the stupid book and leave the stupid school and just go home. But she didn't get the chance, because Miss Potts said it was okay if she didn't want to read in the group, and she didn't have to. Instead, she got to read her own special choice of book from Miss Potts' shelf, and read it only to Miss Potts so none of the other kids could hear. That was good.

This morning, Thursday, Skye had gone into school on her own, and hadn't even felt scared. May and Phil watched from the gate, and she had kissed Mr. Snow and Charlotte before she left, but Skye went into the playground and found Agent Ward next to the jungle gym, all by herself. And then the rest of the day had gone just as well; learning about the animals in Africa, singing a song with another of the classes, and playing spies with Ward. School was pretty good.

Miss Potts finished the story about the four children, five minutes before school ended, so she said they could all just sit and talk until the bell went. Skye and Grant sat in their usual spot (and Skye loved the fact that she had a 'usual' spot now) on the carpet and talked.

"Tony said he was going to see your Mom and Dad today." Grant said to Skye.

"He did? Why is he seeing them?"

"He's made some new treadmill and he wants them to buy it." Grant grinned at her. "It's _awesome_. He let me play on it until Pepper saw and got mad."

It was still a bit weird to hear Grant call Miss Potts 'Pepper'. Skye turned to look at her teacher, sitting by her desk. She couldn't imagine her ever being mad.

"Did she shout at you?" Skye asked, concerned.

"Nope." He shrugged.

Skye dropped her voice to a whisper. "Did she _hit _you?"

Grant looked scandalised. "_No. _No, Skye. She doesn't ever hit."

"Oh." Skye said, relieved. "Good."

"She was mad at Tony, not me. But she would never hit me, or him. Neither would Tony." Ward frowned. "Do…do your mom and dad ever hit you?"

"No." Skye said immediately. "Mel and Phil are good. They don't do that."

"That's good, then." He flicked a little rolled up piece of paper at her and she began batting it around by her feet. "How come you don't you say 'mom' and 'dad'?" Ward asked curiously and Skye's stomach dropped.

She'd been avoiding discussing her lack of parents with anyone, and had been exceedingly grateful to realise Miss Potts hadn't said anything about it to Grant.

Skye didn't know what to say. She didn't want any of the kids to know she was an orphan. It was that sort of thing that kids always felt the need to bring up over and over until it turned into some sort of joke between her and whole class that was funny to everyone except Skye. Maybe Ward would understand, _maybe_, but he wasn't an orphan and Skye didn't want him to find out, so she just continued looking at the paper ball on the floor and pretended not to have heard him.

"Skye?"

"What?" She glanced up. Grant was watching her curiously.

"How come you don't say 'mom' and 'dad'?"

"How come _you _don't?" She snapped viscously, and squished the paper ball with her palm.

Grant Ward shrugged his shoulders. "Because Pepper and Tony aren't my mom and dad."

He said it so easily, and Skye supposed it was easier for him because everyone in the school knew he was living with Pepper and Tony, and they didn't seem to care. But Skye still felt bad for snapping at him.

"Mel and Phil aren't _my _mom and dad." Skye said quietly. "But don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Oh." He said quietly. "Okay. I promise I won't tell." Grant said. He scooted closer to her so that their arms were pressed together and he could whisper without any of the other kids hearing. "But why did you say they were your mom and dad when I saw them the other day?"

Skye frowned in thought. "They are my mommy and daddy. Kind of."

Grant looked thoroughly confused. "Huh?"

"Um" Skye wracked her brain for the best way to explain it.

Back at the orphanage, lots of the kids spent much of their time asking questions about their family, and the nuns wouldn't be much help, but Abby the social worker would always answer them. Skye thought back to Abby's answers. "Well, it's like this." She said, and looked over to Grant, he was listening with rapt attention.

"I don't have biological parents." Skye explained. "I never knew them and they didn't want me, so I lived in an orphanage with other kids like me."

"Okay." Grant said.

"So, then I sometimes lived with families- foster parents- who were meant to be my 'forever family'." The phrase left a bitter taste in Skye's mouth as she thought back to the nine foster families before Mel and Phil who Abby had once claimed to be a 'forever family'. Apparently Skye and Abby had different definitions of the word 'forever'.

Grant, too appeared to be familiar with the phrase, but he was smiling brightly. "Pepper and Tony are my forever family." He said. "When my mom couldn't take care of me anymore, I stayed with a nice lady for a few weeks, that was when I first came to this school, but then Pepper and Tony said I could live with them." He looked over at Miss Potts. "That was what the social worker said they were. My forever family."

Skye wanted to tell him that he shouldn't hold his breath. Just because he was being fostered, that didn't mean it was for forever, but that would be mean, so she just bit her tongue.

"So Mel and Phil are your forever family?" Grant said.

"Yeah. My tenth." Skye tried to keep the spite out of her tone but didn't succeed.

Grant Ward touched her arm. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Skye said, shrugging him off, and it was. For now, she was happy, at home and at school. Life was pretty good today, and if Skye had learned anything throughout her short life, it was not to think too much about tomorrow. "Anyway, Mel and Phil are the best mom and dad I've ever had, so that's good."

"Well then." Grant said. "Maybe they _could _be your 'forever family'? Like actually for _forever._"

The bell rang, and Miss Potts told them all to line up by the door so Skye didn't have to answer Grant. They stood together at the back of the line and Skye faced away from him, but Grant nudged Skye.

"I _know _I'm going to be with Pepper and Tony forever. Don't ask my how, I just do. And that's awesome." He smiled. "But I have a mom, and a dad…somewhere, and even though she can't take care of me, I can't really replace her. And I don't want to."

Skye felt a little jealous that technically Grant had _two _sets of parents, but she reminded herself not to be. The grass wasn't always greener.

"But," He continued, "your mom and dad could be Mel and Phil. You've got a family now, we both have, and you have to _make sure _it's going to be forever."

Skye shook her head. "I want it to be forever but I can't _make _it be forever. I try to be good, but-,"

"You should tell them you want to stay." He said, as if it were that simple. "When I tell Pepper and Tony that I love them forever, they always say 'love you too, forever and ever'. Do you love Mel and Phil?"

"Yes." Skye said with a certainty that surprised even her.

"You should tell them that. Then they'd know you wanted to stay, and they would keep you forever." He clapped his hands together. "Forever family."

Skye did love Mel and Phil. She did. And that was pretty scary, because they could kick her out of the house at any time. Natasha was coming back home tomorrow and when she did, Melinda and Phil might realise they only wanted Bobbi and Natasha, and kick Skye out. It was the main reason she had been trying _so _hard to be good, so that they would love her too, like Miss Potts loved Grant, and so they would want to keep her. They kept Bobbi and Natasha around, so if Skye were extra good like them, maybe she'd have a chance, too.

When she left the school, and Grant stayed inside with Miss Potts, Skye ran over to where Melinda stood by the school gates. She opened her arms for Skye, and Skye jumped so that Mel had to catch her mid-air, but Melinda was amazing so of _course_ she caught Skye. Skye didn't even mind that the other kids could see her cuddling May, because as good as school was, that talk with Grant had made her miss Mel and Phil an awful lot.

"Good day?" Mel asked as she kissed her cheek.

"Yeah." Skye said, and let Mel put her back on the ground.

"What did you learn about today?"

"Africa. And all the animals." Skye said, walking hand-in-hand with Mel. She told her all about the elephants and the pictures of the lions they saw, and even san the little part of the song she could remember.

When they reached the car Melinda opened the door for Skye to get in, and she climbed over the middle to hug Phil from behind the driver's seat.

"Hi, Phil."

"Hello, sweetheart." He laughed, and reached his arms backward to hug her back awkwardly.

Charlotte and Mr. Snow were still strapped into her booster seat from the morning, so Skye unbuckled them so she could get into the chair and have them on her knee.

They drove home with the radio on, and when Phil sang along with some of the songs, Melinda would tease him and tell him he was terrible, but even Skye could tell she was just teasing him. Phil wasn't that bad. It was nice. Skye hugged Mr. Snow and Charlotte and pushed her nose into the bear's fur. Both toys had been sleeping in her bed and his fur smelled like home.

_Home. _

Having Mel and Phil as her forever family seemed like the best thing in the world. She loved them a lot. And it was too scary to tell them out loud, so instead, Skye looked at the back of their heads and screamed it as loud as she could in her head, over and over again.

_I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you._

And maybe, somehow, they would hear her.

…

Although her file contained incident report after incident report pertaining to '_night-time trauma', _Melinda hadn't yet had an issue getting Skye peacefully asleep in bed. Really, the only issue was waking her up in the morning, but even then she hadn't been putting up too much of a fuss.

That being said, Skye liked having company at bedtime, Melinda had noticed. She had no arguments when either Mel orPhil said it was bedtime, but she became rather clingy, especially towards Mel. Tonight was no different.

Phil bid his goodnights to Skye downstairs. He was on the phone with Steve, apparently work-related, although Melinda could hear bursts of laughter every few minutes so she suspected there may have been a change of topic over the course of a phone call. Tony Stark had been attempting to get them to buy a new fleet of high-tech treadmills that had functions that even Melinda was unsure of. His methods for getting her and Phil to approve the sale had apparently consisted of hanging around the gym and the offices for hours on end annoying everyone. She was a little ashamed to admit that it had worked and SHIELD gyms were now the proud owners of twenty new Stark Industries treadmills.

Mel was snuggled next to Skye on her bed, arm around her little girl as she waited for her to drift off. Every parenting book out there probably reprimanded this behaviour, saying Mel was getting her into a bad habit or something, but she didn't care. This nightly cuddle time wasn't _just_ for Skye. It was a new practice that Mel had never really had the opportunity to experience, having taken care of mostly older kids, and she loved it.

"Are you excited?" Skye asked her out of the blue, looking over at Mel with sleepy eyes illuminated in the blue light from her star lamp.

"What for, honey?"

Skye turned onto her side, pulling Charlotte the spider under her chin. "For Natasha coming home."

"Oh, I'm very excited." She said. "Do you know how long it's been since I've seen her?"

Skye seemed to consider it for a second, and Mel reached out to brush some of the baby hair wisps off her head.

"Three weeks?"

"Longer." Mel said.

"Four weeks?" Skye guessed.

"Longer."

"_Five _weeks?"

"Two _months_."

Skye's mouth fell open. "You haven't seen your daughter in _two months_?"

"Hey, I haven't seen Bobbi since June."

Skye gasped. "Oh my gosh. It's October!"

"I know. They're busy you see. Bobbi has work and Nat's been at school since the end of August. She and Clint have been too busy to visit." Mel said. She felt a little tightness in her chest at the thought of her daughter and Clint. She _really _did miss them.

"Do you think...?" Skye trailed off, looking down and rubbing her fingers over Charlotte the spider's feet.

"What, baby?"

Skye spoke quietly enough that Mel had to strain to hear her even in the quiet bedroom. "Do you think Natasha will like me? What if she doesn't like me?"

And didn't that just tear open Melinda's heart.

"Oh, my baby girl. Your big sister, Nat, she's going to love you. And so is Clint." Mel cuddled Skye close, nuzzling into her temple."What makes you think she won't love you?"

Skye pressed her face into Melinda's shoulder. "Dunno."

Mel rubbed her back. She had spoken to Nat earlier that day. Just a fleeting phone call to clarify the time for airport pickup the next day, but the teenager had been very vocal regarding her excitement at meeting her new younger sister. For years both Nat and Bobbi had asked for a younger sibling, but Natasha had always been the most dedicated to the cause.

"Are you excited about meeting Natasha and Clint?" Mel asked Skye.

"Yeah." Skye said. A little smile appeared on her face. "She's nice?"

"Natasha is very nice." Mel stroked Skye's cheek. "Did you know Natasha lived in St. Agnes' for a little while?"

Skye blinked at her. "Really?"

"Yeah. You know Nat came to live with us when she was fourteen?" Skye nodded. They had explained that to her the other day, although she and Phil had left the details out, not wanting to give Skye a bad impression. She was a little too young to understand some of the things, _most of the things_, Mel corrected herself, Nat had been through. "Well, before that Nat lived with some not very nice people."

Skye listened to the story, concern written all over her face, and Melinda thought about how much certain elements of this story would resonate with little Skye and her spotty past.

"And those not very nice people she lived with did some very bad things, and the police took them away."

"To jail?" Skye asked.

"Yeah." She said out of ease. Skye could learn about deportation and fire fights when she was older. "But the police saved Nat, and they took her to St. Agnes' to stay." Mel did the math in her head. "That was about five and a half years ago. You might have been there."

"I can't remember." Skye frowned.

"Well," Mel smoothed out the frown with her thumb, "you wouldn't. You'd have been too young to remember. But Nat wasn't there for very long anyway."

"How long?"

"About eighteen hours."

"Oh. I was there for eight years." Skye said. "How comes she got out so early?"

Melinda debated not telling Skye the real reason for Nat being moved from the orphanage so early, but she saw no point. She would find out eventually. Natasha had a habit of introducing herself to their acquaintances as 'the Russian one who punched a nun'.

"Abby called me." Mel said. "Because she needed someone to take care of Natasha for a little while, because she got scared."

"What was Natasha scared of?" Skye asked. "You said Natasha was brave."

"She is, baby. Nat's one of the bravest people I know, but even brave people get frightened. And Natasha, couldn't tell anyone she was scared, because she didn't speak very much English."

"Huh?"

"Nat spoke Russian, you see. And no one at St. Agnes' speaks Russian, so Nat felt scared." Mel rubbed her fingers through Charlotte's fur. "Imagine if you were somewhere where no one spoke English."

"I'd be scared." Skye breathed. "Natasha's very brave."

"So are you, you know." Mel kissed her head. "But now, it's time to sleep."

Mel made a move to get off the bed, but Skye grabbed her arm and kept her where she was.

"You can't go." Skye said. "You never told me the rest of the story! Why did Natasha leave St. Agnes'? She was scared, then what?"

"Oh," Mel said, "She punched one of the nuns."

Skye grinned. "No. Way."

"Yes. Way." Mel laughed at the pure glee on Skye's face. "But it was a bad decision and she felt really bad about it afterwards." Admittedly, that part was a little exaggerated. Nat still admitted to being proud of that particular punch, and Mel would be lying if she said she wasn't a little bit proud of Nat for the punch.

"Natasha's awesome." Skye said wistfully, snuggling back down in her blankets and sucking her thumb.

"She'll be thrilled to know you think so." Melinda smiled. "Now, baby girl. You've got school tomorrow. Sleepy time."

Mel kissed Skye on the cheek and climbed off her bed. "Sleep tight, little girl." She tucked the covers around her little body, Charlotte the spider and Mr. Snow the polar bear peeking out of the top. "Sweet dreams." She said. _I love you. _She said in her mind. She didn't want to freak Skye out with an admission of love too early on in their relationship.

Skye looked up at her sleepily, sucking gently on her thumb. "Night, Mel." She said. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

It came out like a question, Mel thought. "Of course." She kissed her again. "I'll always be there, okay?" Mel said. She wasn't sure Skye had ever had anyone she truly believed was always going to 'be there', and Mel wanted to be that person. "I'll see you in the morning, baby."

"See you in the morning."

…

Skye went to school in the morning without any problems, as usual, and they picked her up a little earlier than usual so that she could come with them to the airport to get Clint and Natasha. She hadn't stopped talking since Phil had gone into the school to get her, chattering constantly about Grant Ward and his part in their little spy game.

"And then," Skye said from the back seat, "Agent Ward shot the bad guy and we were safe."

Phil turned in the passenger seat to look at his little girl. "Grant shot someone?" He asked.

"No." Skye said exasperatedly. "_Agent Ward_ shot someone."

"Oh, I see." Phil smirked.

"But it's okay." Skye assured him seriously. "He didn't use bullets. He used the night-night gun. So the bad guy just went to sleep."

Phil shook his head. A child's imagination was a fascinating thing.

"Night-night gun?" Mel said from the driver's seat as they pulled into the airport parking lot.

"Yeah." Skye said, getting distracted by a plane flying overhead and pressing her face against the window. "It might need a better name."

Melinda found a space and pulling in, and switching off the engine. "Ready?" She said, looking at both Phil and Skye.

"Yep." Phil said. Skye nodded, still looking out of the window.

He and Mel got out of the car, but Skye made no attempt to move. Phil opened the back door and poked his head in.

"You coming, Skye?" He asked.

Skye looked up at him with a little frown. She held Charlotte and Mr. Snow to her chest. "They can come see the planes, too?"

Phil smiled at Skye's concern for her toys. He heard Melinda laugh somewhere behind him. "Of course, honey." He said.

Skye's face relaxed and she got out of the car, a toy under each arm. She sidled up to Mel and rearranged the toys in her arms until she had a free hand to hold Mel's. Phil closed the car door and took Melinda's free hand, leading his girls towards the airport.

"Have you ever been on a plane?" Skye asked, walking with her head tipped towards the Skye.

"Yeah." Mel said.

"Lots of times." Phil agreed.

Skye looked at both of them with wonder. "Wow. You were in the _sky?"_

Phil grinned at Skye's absolute shock. Flying was one of those things that he took completely for granted. He'd flown all over for various business reasons, and both Bobbi and Nat were flying to and from home all the time. Too little Skye, being in up in the air in a plane seemed unbelievable.

"I _was_ in the sky." Phil said. "One day we'll go on vacation and take you on an aeroplane, Skye. How does that sound?"

She looked around Mel to peer at him dubiously. "Sounds a bit scary."

"Well," Phil shrugged as they entered the airport, "it's pretty exciting, too."

"Whatever you say." Skye shrugged.

…

They'd arrived at the airport early enough that Phil had been able to and get him and Mel some tea and coffee, and Skye some juice, and Skye had been allowed to sit by the floor-to-ceiling windows and watch the aeroplanes take off and land. From what Melinda could make out from Skye's 'ooohs' and 'wows', she was having a good time plane spotting. Charlotte and Mr. Snow sat on the floor by Skye as she pointed out various planes taxiing on the runway.

Melinda and Phil sat next to each other in the uncomfortable airport chairs. Nat's flight had landed about fifteen minutes earlier, Phil having pointed the plane out to Skye. Ever since, the little girl had been eagerly asking 'how long?' Her eight year olds' patience quota being tested and pushed to the limit.

"How long now?" Skye asked almost on cue, turning to Mel.

Melinda took another sip of her tea. "About two minutes less than when you last asked." She smiled.

Skye pouted. "But _how long? _You said the plane landed _ages _ago._" _She sighed dramatically.

Phil laughed next to her. "Just a few more minutes. They have to get their luggage and that can take a while. There were lots of people on the flight."

"'Kay." Skye tucked her toys under her arm and shuffled back on the carpet until her back was against Melinda's legs. She leaned her head on Mel's knee, still looking out of the window.

"You okay?" Mel asked, stroking the top of Skye's head.

"Mm." Skye's thumb worked its way up to her mouth, a sure sign she was getting tired. She didn't suck it, but she rubbed her thumb against her lips.

Mel continued to stroke Skye's hair. "Sleepy, baby?"

"No." Skye said far too quickly.

"Me neither." Phil said through a yawn and Mel rolled her eyes.

They sat quietly for a few minutes, Phil doing some 'work' that looked suspiciously like Tetris on his phone, Skye watching the planes out of the window, and Mel stroking her hair. Melinda turned away from the window at the sounds of commotion coming from one of the gates. People began filing through the revolving door, pushing trollies of luggage and wrangling small children.

She nudged Phil. "I think this is their flight."

He turned around and looked towards the gate. "Yeah, I think you're right. Come on, we'll go wait over there."

It had seemed as though Skye had been eagerly awaiting Nat and Clint's arrival, but when Melinda stood and waited for Skye to follow, she seemed a little reluctant to do so. Skye looked up at her from the floor, cuddling her toys close to her chest.

"What's the matter, baby?" Mel crouched down beside Skye.

Skye pressed her face into Mr. Snow's fur and mumbled something Melinda couldn't make out. She turned back to Phil who was watching with badly masked concern.

"Go wait for the kids, Phil." She said. "We'll catch you up."

He nodded and walked towards the gate, leaving her alone with Skye.

"Now," Mel said, coaxing Skye's face out of Mr. Snow's fur, "are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

Skye shuffled forwards on her knees and hugged Melinda, wrapping her arms around her tightly. Mel picked her up best she could with two cuddly toys also taking up room in her arms. She rocked Skye for a moment and kissed her head.

"Tell me." Mel said. "Tell me what's the matter, baby." Skye said nothing but sat up in in her arms to look over to where Phil was standing by the gate. Skye tucked Charlotte the spider up under her chest.

"Are you a little nervous?" Mel asked, and the look on Skye's face answered the question for her. Melinda mentally berated herself. Of _course _Skye was feeling apprehensive. She had taken all of Skye's apparent excitement at face value and failed to see the nervousness masked behind it. This was her fault. She should have been more sensitive to her little girl's feelings. Guilt bubbled up inside of her.

"Oh, honey." Mel said. "It's okay. You can be nervous."

"Yeah?" Skye looked over at Phil again and Mel began walking them over to where her husband stood, watching the passengers enter the terminal.

"Of course. You don't have to be, but you _can _be." Melinda kissed her again.

The sea of people coming from the gate meant that Mel had to keep a constant eye on Phil's position in order not to lose him among the jet-lagged passengers, but as an arguing family with way too many suitcases obscured her view of him, Melinda could no longer see her husband.

"Where…?" She was about to ask Skye if she could see Phil, when an unmistakeable flash of red caught her eye, and Melinda watched as Natasha launched herself at her dad, Clint following behind with her luggage. Skye's arms tightened around her shoulders as she approached them.

Natasha was still hugging Phil enthusiastically, so it was Clint who actually spotted them first. Melinda grinned as his face lit up and he abandoned the suitcases to rush over and hug her, and by proxy, Skye.

"Hey, Mel." He kissed her cheek as he pulled back. "How the hell are ya'?" He smiled at Skye and gave her a little wave, then didn't seem in the least offended when the little girl shied away.

"I'm very good, _Clinton_." Mel teased him with his full first name and he groaned.

"God, you're so embarrassing." He huffed with a smirk.

"I love you, too." Mel laughed, hitching Skye further up her hip. The little girl had curled up awkwardly in her arms, head tucked into Mel's neck. "Now, as much as I love you, my dear boy, I want to see my bubba." Clint stepped out of the way to reveal Natasha eventually releasing her father from what appeared to be a death grip.

Melinda laughed. "Hey! Middle-child!" She called, and Nat turned around, beaming. "Get your butt over here and give your mama kisses."

Nat's smile could have lit San Francisco for the next twenty years, Mel was sure of it. Her eyes landed on Skye, who was still tucked against Melinda.

"Mama," Nat said, "is this my little baby sister?"

Skye lifted her head at the mention of her, and Melinda pecked her cheek.

"You ready to meet Natasha, Skye?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm so sorry! You have every right to be mad at me for ending this chapter at such a frustrating time! **

**Review please! xxxx**


	9. Skye's Big Sister

**A/N: Hey guys, hope you enjoy this one!**

* * *

><p>Skye didn't need to ask who these people were. She had been inspecting all of the photographs on the playroom door for long enough that she could easily pick out Clint and Natasha from a line-up, but seeing them <em>actually <em>in person was different.

She only got a quick look at Natasha, mostly of the back of her head and her hair which seemed to be even redder than in the photographs, because she was hugging Phil. Skye thought it looked as though Natasha was trying to squeeze all the air out of Phil, but she mustn't have been hurting him because he was smiling and kissing her head like he did when he picked Skye up from school.

Clint hugged her. Well, he hugged Melinda, but Skye was clinging to her because her tummy felt tight and sore, so Clint kind of hugged her too. He smiled and waved and seemed kind of nice, but Skye didn't feel like talking to him yet so she hid her face in Melinda's shoulder.

"I want to see my bubba." Melinda said. That meant Natasha, Skye knew. Mel often called Nat that when she was talking about her to Phil. Skye didn't know why.

"Hey! Middle-child!" Mel called. "Get your butt over here and give your mama kisses."

Skye kept her face pressed into Mel's shoulder. Mr. Snow and Charlotte hung by their paw and leg in her hand and they were both feeling pretty shy. Skye wanted to cuddle them properly, but in order to lift them into her arms, she would have to move her face, so she just told them to be brave in her mind.

"Mama," Natasha said. She had a different voice than Skye imagined. "Is this my little baby sister?"

That was _her_.

_Baby sister_.

Skye turned her head slightly so she could peek out over to Natasha. She was stood there in front of Skye and Mel, grinning at her. Skye lifted her head to get a better look at Natasha. She was beautiful, and she had a purple t-shirt on with a cat's face wearing sunglasses and Skye wasn't sure she'd seen anything cooler in her entire life.

Mel bounced her slightly on her hip and kissed Skye's cheek.

"You ready to meet Natasha, Skye?"

Even though her tummy still felt tight, and even though Mr. Snow and Charlotte were both feeling shy and a bit nervous, Skye nodded, because she _did _want to meet Natasha. Skye had been looking at Natasha's photographs all week, and seeing her in person was a little weird, but Natasha was smiling and she had such a pretty smile. And Natasha was brave. Skye could be like Natasha.

Skye squirmed a little and Melinda put her down. She adjusted Mr. Snow and Charlotte in her arms.

Natasha got down onto her knees in front of Skye.

"You okay?" Mel asked, putting her hand on Skye's shoulder.

"Yes." Skye said, but she kept her eyes on Natasha.

"Hello, Skye. I'm Nat."

Natasha sat down and crossed her legs in the same way Skye did at school, except they weren't at school, they were in the middle of an airport. Skye wanted to laugh because it was really bizarre, and Natasha didn't seem to care that people walking past were looking at her funny, but Skye still felt a little shy so she bit her lip.

"Hello." Skye said quietly.

Natasha looked at Mr. Snow and Charlotte. "Are these yours?" She asked.

Skye wanted to tell her all about Mr. Snow and Charlotte. About how Phil bought them for her and how they slept in her bed at night and stayed in the car while she was at school. She especially wanted to tell Natasha how Charlotte was really a present for her, but Skye just nodded. Her voice didn't want to work right now.

"I like them a lot." Natasha smiled. She pointed to Charlotte, but didn't touch her. "Is this one a spider?"

Skye nodded again.

"Cool." Clint said, and he sat on the ground by Natasha. More people were looking at them as they walked by, but Clint didn't seem to mind either. "Nat likes spiders, don't ya, Nat?"

Natasha grinned. "Yeah. Spiders are awesome. Some people are scared of them," she looked behind Skye at Melinda, "but I think they're the best."

"I'm not _scared_." Melinda said. "I'm reasonably cautious of them."

Natasha leaned forward to whisper to Skye. "That's the same thing."

Skye giggled. Natasha was funny.

"Hey, you want to see something cool?" Natasha asked.

Skye smiled. "Yes, please." She said, and Natasha must of heard even though Skye's voice was a little quiet, because she said something Skye didn't catch to Clint, and he moved over to where their luggage was.

Clint passed a small clear box with a handle to Natasha. At first Skye thought it was empty, except for some sandy stuff in the bottom, but them she spotted it.

"Oh my gosh." She breathed, putting Mr. Snow and Charlotte down by Phil's feet so she could crawl over to Natasha and the little box. Skye peered into the tank, mesmerised by the animal standing stoically in the corner. The tarantula was _huge_. Way bigger than the spiders they often found in the showers at the orphanage, and those spiders were pretty big. "Wow."

"This is my pet spider." Natasha said. "Her name is Tallulah. But we call her Lulu for short."

Skye looked away from Lulu to smile at Natasha. "That's a pretty name. I like her." She gently put a finger up to the clear plastic. "I like her a lot."

Melinda spoke behind her, but Skye stayed focused on Lulu. "It will forever bother me that you can get that _thing _on an aeroplane so easily." Mel said.

"Mom, she has a name." Natasha said.

"Yeah." Skye agreed, because she thought that names were very important and everyone deserved a good one. "She's called Lulu, Mel."

"See." Natasha said. "Skye gets it."

"Yeah, I get it." Skye shuffled closer to Natasha. "Don't I get it, Natasha?" Skye wasn't one hundred per cent sure what it was that she 'got', but she was thrilled that Natasha thought she did.

"Yeah." Her big sister said. "You do, Skye."

…

Nat was thrilled to discover that Skye, her new baby sister, seemed just as eager to get to know her, as she was to get to know Skye. Skye still seemed a little shy, but when they piled into her dad's car to go home, Nat offered to hold Skye's toys if the little girl kept Lulu's travel tank on her lap, and Skye had been chattering on to the spider the whole way home.

"And then," Skye was saying to Lulu, "Captain America saves the whole world from the Red Skull because he's the best superhero ever."

"I'm glad to see your still subjecting everyone to your love for Cap, Phil." Clint laughed, poking her dad in the back of the neck.

"Stop it." Nat elbowed him. "He's driving."

"Sorry." Clint smirked at her and pecked her cheek.

Nat turned to Clint and rubbed her nose against his ear. "It's not me you should be apologising to, dummy."

"Sorry for poking you in the neck while driving, _Dad_." He said in a tone that gave the impression he was apologising at gunpoint. Clint's cheeky grin never left his face and it was at times like this that Natasha knew she was seeing Clint like he would have looked at Skye's age. God, she loved this idiot.

"Thanks, Clint." Her dad replied. "That was such a heart-wrenching and sincere apology."

Nat rolled her eyes at her dad's sarcasm and instead turned her attentions back to Skye when her dad and Clint started discussing Clint's job back in DC. The little girl was watching avidly as Lulu began stretching out her legs, moving slowly to the other side of the small tank.

"Look, Natasha." Skye said. "She's moving."

Nat's mom groaned in front of them.

"Oh, calm down, mama." Nat laughed. "She can't get out of the tank."

Her mother turned in her seat to look at Nat and Skye. Her face softened when she saw Skye beaming up at Nat, but it was short lived as her eyes fell back on Nat's pet.

"That's exactly what you said the last time it escaped, Natasha."

Nat shrugged. "We found her didn't we?"

"Yes." Her mom said. "After six hours I found it in my _pillowcase_."

Skye tugged on Natasha's elbow. Her baby sister was smiling widely. "Did you _really _lose Lulu in Mel's pillow?"

Nat nodded. "They like to hide, you see." She lifted Skye's toy spider up to her ear. "Isn't that right?" She said to the toy, making it nod at Skye. The little girl giggled. "And Lulu just wanted a nice safe spot to camp out for a little while."

Tasha's mother turned back around to face forwards. "I love you, Tash, but I swear if that freaking spider escapes again I'm going to step on it."

Simultaneous cries of "Mom!" and "Mel!" came from Nat and Skye in the back of the car.

Skye worriedly looked over to Natasha. "Will she really step on her?" Skye pulled the tank closer to her on her lap. Nat loved this. Not only did she have a gorgeous little sister to dote on, but she was a fan of Lulu. Natasha loved Bobbi more than life, but they had never shared the same passion when it came to Nat's love of arachnids. Bobbi tolerated the pet, but wasn't exactly a fan.

"Don't worry." Nat wrapped an arm around Skye's shoulder and smiled when the little girl leaned in to the embrace rather than shaking it off. "Mom won't really hurt Tallulah. _Right mom?"_

"Right." Her mother said in the most unconvincing tone Nat had ever heard, but Skye visibly relaxed anyway, and went back to admiring her pet.

"Hey, baby sis?" Nat asked, running her fingers through the sparkling fur of the toy spider.

"Yeah?" Skye stopped her admiration of Lulu to look over at her.

"What are you bear and spider called? Do they have names?" Nat had never really had a plush toy like this. When she was in Russia there had never been enough money to spare for toys and after moving to the US with Ivan, well, toys were the last things on her mind to worry about. Nat tightened her arm around Skye.

Skye would never have to worry about the things she had. Never. Natasha would make sure of that. And not just Nat. Since their parents had taken Skye in, Nat and Bobbi had been having increasingly long Skype calls discussing the protection of their baby sister. If anyone dared lay a finger on the little girl, they'd have Bobbi's wrath, Tasha's temper, and Clint's arrows after them.

Her little sister pulled Nat from her musings, pointing to the white bear sitting in her lap. "That's Mr. Snow." Skye explained, and Nat felt herself smiling.

"Is that because he's a polar bear?" She guessed.

Skye's face lit up. "Yes! That's _exactly _why."

"And this one?" She asked of the sparkly spider. If Nat was being completely honest, she was kind of fond of the cute plushie.

"Um…well…" Skye stumbled over her words, the shyness Nat had thought was dissipating, creeping back in. "Her name is Charlotte. Like in the book."

"That's a great name." Nat said. She wasn't familiar with the book Skye was referring to, but maybe it was one of those things everyone knew that Nat had missed out on. She didn't want Skye to think less of her, like people sometimes did at college when things like this crept up, so Nat made a note to ask Clint about it later.

"Do you like Charlotte?" Skye asked quietly.

"Of course I do." Nat said. "I think she's awesome." And there was no lie there.

Skye smiled. "Good. 'Cos I got her for you, Natasha."

Nat thought that she had heard Skye wrong, but her little sister was lifting Mr. Snow the polar bear out of her lap, leaving Charlotte the spider.

"You got her for me?" Nat felt the need to check. She felt her cheeks getting hot.

"Yeah. Well, Phil helped." Skye said. "Do you like her?"

Nat wrapped both arms around Skye and hugged her so carelessly that she felt Clint reach out from beside her and save Lulu's tank from falling off Skye's lap and onto the floor. Skye hugged Nat back, and it felt wonderful. Part of Natasha wondered if this was how her parents had felt when she had eventually given in and shown affection towards them. It made her feel a little guilty that she had held off for so long when it came to her mom and dad. Tasha swore to show them how much she loved them more often.

"I love her, Skye. Thank you so much." Nat let Skye go, keeping one arm around her.

"You're welcome." Skye said shyly, but kept a hold on Nat's hand now that Clint was in charge of Lulu.

Speaking of. "Was I not invited to the cuddle party?" Clint asked, doing his best fake pout, the one he usually reserved for when he wanted Nat to stay and cuddle in bed on his days off.

"You don't get to come to the cuddle party." Nat said. "You didn't get me the best gift in the world."

Skye giggled at Clint's scandalised look.

"I don't get hugs?" He pouted again, this time at Skye. "Aww. Tell her that's not fair, Skye." He was so good with kids. Nat knew, just from various interactions they had had with them, but Skye's warming to him seemed only to prove her point.

"Here." Skye passed Mr. Snow over to Clint and he took the bear, holding it as if it were worth a million dollars. "You can have hugs from Mr. Snow 'til we get home. He gives good hugs."

"Thank you, Skye. That's very thoughtful of you." Clint smiled, and then eyed Natasha. He gave her a look that told her he was in love with this little girl just as much as she was. But then, how could he not be? Her baby sister was gorgeous.

Lulu's travel tank was passed back to Skye and she spent the rest of the journey home alternating between talking to the humans in the car and to the spider in the tank. Clint stroked his fingers through Mr. Snow's white fur as he answered all of her mom's questions about his job. Tasha joined in with the conversations., catching up with her parents, but her mind remained on the toy cuddled up to her chest. Charlotte the spider's big eyes watched her with more expression than Nat had ever considered possible in _toys_. Even the baby dolls in the playroom at home she still liked to dress, especially when things got a bit too much to handle, didn't look at her with so much feeling.

Over the course of the five years Mel and Phil had been 'mom' and 'dad', Nat had gained a fair few 'things'. Stuff she had grown particularly fond of over the years.

She had various items of clothing she was reluctant to get rid of, even though they no longer fit, simply because her mother had bought them for her or given them to her, and at the time she had been so touched by the gesture.

She had a little Captain America desk calendar from four years ago that had stood proudly on her desk at home until she moved to DC with Clint, where it had migrated to her desk there, because it had been a present from her dad.

Nat had a whole box of various things Bobbi had given to her over the years. Stupid stuff like key rings and fridge magnets and just tacky trinkets Bobbi had found with spiders on that she knew Nat would like. And then she had the really special things Bobbi had given her; drawings of the two of them and notes Bob had pushed under her bedroom door and left in her coat pockets after they had had a fight and felt bad about it.

And Clint, well, she had a whole host of things she wouldn't ever want to part with because _he _had been the one to give them to her. She reached up and ran her fingers over the little silver arrow that permanently rested around her throat.

For a girl who had spent most of her life with less than the bare minimum, Tasha had a lot of _stuff_.

Charlotte the spider smelled like Skye. She guessed her little sister had been hugging the toy and the thought made Nat tighten her grip on Charlotte. Tasha had lots of _stuff _now that she had a family, but there were a few special things she had promised herself to never part with. That one particular hoodie that had once belonged to her mother but had been given to Nat- the one she still occasionally made her mom sleep in so that it would smell of her when she got it back. The calendar her dad had bought her, and had written little notes on each page before he gave it to her. The drawing of her and Bobbi, on the back of which, her big sister had written her a letter. The necklace from Clint that stayed around her neck.

Charlotte the spider was being added to that list.

Nat pressed her face into Charlotte's glittery fur and inhaled deeply, smelling _home_. "You can stay." She told the spider quietly. Nat looked over to Skye who was having an animated one-sided dialogue with Lulu. "And I'll take care of her." She promised Charlotte. "I'll take care of Skye."

…

Skye was having a great time.

She had been a little worried that Natasha wouldn't want her to be her sister, but she kept calling her 'baby sis' and that meant that Natasha really _did _want to be Skye's sister. And she loved Charlotte the spider. Even when they were eating dinner, Natasha kept Charlotte on her lap the whole time. Mr. Snow had to sit on the counter top though, next to the TV, because he was white and Mel said Skye might get food on him.

Lulu the tarantula wasn't allowed in the kitchen at first, but then Mel said she wanted to be able to see her in case she escaped- even though she kept saying she wasn't scared, Skye thought she really was. It was awesome that Natasha had a pet spider, Skye thought.

Her big sister was so cool.

And Clint. Clint was cool, too.

Skye waited patiently for everyone to finish their food before she grabbed Natasha's hand and plucked Mr. Snow off the counter. "You want to come and play with me, Natasha?" She asked.

"What about me?" Clint asked. He did his funny sad face that made Skye giggle.

"You too, Clint." Skye tucked Mr. Snow under her arm so that she could hold Clint's hand too.

"Let's go then." Natasha said, and led the way to the playroom.

"Wait!" Mel called after them and Natasha stopped. "Take your bug with you."

"She's not a _bug_." Natasha said. She had to let go of Skye's hand to pick up Lulu's little tank.

"She's not a _bug_, Mel." Skye reiterated. "And she has a name." She reminded her.

Mel rolled her eyes, but she was smiling at Skye. She pointed at Natasha. "Mere hours you have spent with her, and you are already having a bad influence on my baby, Natasha."

Natasha grinned and took Skye's hand again, holding Lulu's tank and Charlotte in the other. "What can I say, mama? I'm just _that _good."

"Yeah." Skye said. "She's just that good."

"Oh Lord." Clint laughed. "She's got a mini me."

"What were we thinking, putting these two together?" Phil said. "We've created an evil team."

"No." Skye argued. "We're not _evil." _She looked to Natasha who was nodding too. The Red Skull was evil. They were the good guys. Agent Skye was a good guy.

"Okay, I'm sorry." Phil said. "Go be the goodies."

Skye kind of forgot that this was Natasha and Clint's house way before it was her house, so when they both led her to the playroom in a way that made Skye think they could have done it blindfolded, she was a little surprised. The door to the playroom was closed and Natasha looked at the pictures on it for a few seconds before letting go of Skye and putting her hand on the handle.

"You got one up here yet, baby sis?" Natasha asked, nodding to the pictures on the door.

Skye shrugged. "I don't like drawing."

"You don't?" Clint sounded surprised as they all entered the playroom.

"Well…" Skye let go of Clint's hand to go and sit by Bobbi's Barbies. They were all still having a yoga lesson in the 'front yard', just like Skye had left them. "I used to like drawing but then…now I don't."

"Why not?" Natasha asked. Skye watched as Natasha set Lulu down on the desk. She kept Charlotte in her lap when she came to sit with Clint by Skye. "You don't have to tell me." Natasha said quietly.

"S'okay." Skye picked up one of the red haired Barbies and made her walk up Natasha's leg. Natasha put her arm around Skye, like she had in the car. It made Skye feel nice. Like when Mel and Phil gave her hugs, so she leaned into her big sister. "I lived with Miss Macy and she was kind of nice, but then she was mean." Natasha's arm got tighter around her. "I made her a card but when she got angry she, um, she tore it up."

Natasha started stroking Skye's hair like Mel did. "I'm sorry that happened to you."

"S'okay." And it was, because Skye didn't live there anymore. She lived here. Here was good.

"You know that's never going to happen again?" Natasha said. "I'm going to make sure that is never going to happen."

"Me too." Clint said.

"'Cos you're brave." Skye said.

"You can be brave, too." Clint said. "Can't she, Tash."

"Yeah." Natasha kissed her head. "You're brave, Skye. Baby sis, you are _so_ brave."

Skye didn't know how Natasha could say that. "I'm not brave like you." She said. She had never been somewhere that she hadn't been able to speak the language. And she'd never punched a nun, even though that was probably more naughty than brave.

"I think you're brave, Skye." Natasha said.

Even if Natasha and Clint thought she was brave, Skye wasn't sure she agreed, so she just went back to making the red haired Barbie do backflips off Natasha's leg.

"Why don't we play a game, huh?" Clint said. He got up and walked over to where the bored games sat on a shelf. "What game do you think, Skye?"

She hadn't really played any of the games on the shelf, but a couple were familiar from school. "I don't mind."

"Tash? Any preference?" Clint asked.

"Not Monopoly." She smiled. "I don't have three weeks to spare."

He lifted a box off the shelf and put it down beside Skye. "We're going classic, guys. Shoots and Ladders."

"I like that game." Skye said. "We have it at school."

Skye thought she should maybe help Clint set up the game, because she really did like Shoots and Ladders, but Natasha was still hugging her and Skye kind of wanted to cuddle her big sister for a little longer.

"What colour would you like to be?" Natasha asked her.

"Blue." Skye said. "Blue, please."

"Good choice, little sis." Clint said and held up a hand for a high five.

Skye smiled and was about to high five him when Natasha held up both of her hands. "Three way high five!"

Her big brother and sister were so cool.

…

Having the two older kids back in the house meant that it was no longer an almost silent home after Skye was tucked up and asleep in bed. For years Phil and Melinda's house was constantly full of kids; their kids, their kids' friends, their kids' _boyfriends-_much to Phil's chagrin_. _It had been a busy home full of bickering, laughter and loud music. At the time Mel and Phil had spent many nights telling the kids to go to bed and be quiet, but then it had gone. It had been quiet. Even when Skye had moved in it had been too quiet.

It was late when Mel had eventually put Skye to bed. The little girl had played for hours in the playroom with Clint and Natasha, the three steadily making their way through their selection of bored games. The excitement and stress of her baby's day had shown when Skye passed out after only a couple of minutes of cuddling. Not that she could speak herself. Melinda's own fatigue was kicking her butt at the minute.

Clint and Nat had gone to bed not long after Skye, declaring they were tired from the flight, but Mel could still hear them moving around in their bedroom. She had no idea what they were doing, but every so often a round of laugher would break out followed by a lot of 'shushing' from Nat, so she suspected it was something they shouldn't be doing. Probably something she didn't _want _to know about.

Melinda had missed this. This…noise. Chaos. Not that _this _was chaos. She was lying in bed reading a terrible novel Maria had given her and it wasn't even midnight. No, this wasn't chaos by any stretch of the imagination, but having more people in the house was a welcoming comfort.

"What're you thinking so hard about?" Phil asked, walking out of the ensuite and climbing into bed next to her. He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"Just," Mel sighed, putting the really _awful _book on the bedside table, "just that I miss the kids _so much_."

Phil cocked an eyebrow at her. "You are aware that three quarters of them are like less them twenty feet away from us right now?"

She rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. I've missed having them here."

"Too quiet without them." Phil agreed, nudging her foot with his under the covers.

"Exactly."

"It went well, huh?" Phil said. "Today. I was a little worried about Skye for a minute."

Melinda nodded. It hadn't really occurred to her how Skye's little anxiety fit must have appeared to him at the airport. "She was nervous."

"Yeah?"

"Mm. It was my fault that I didn't realise." She sighed. "I mean I knew she would be nervous about meeting Tasha, but I just didn't put two and two together that she was feeling _that _anxious about the whole thing."

Phil rubbed her arm and kissed her shoulder. "That's not you're fault, you know, Mel."

She didn't answer. Overlooking something as important as her little girl's anxieties was inexcusable to Melinda.

"It's _not_." Phil insisted. "And it all turned out fine, anyway. Better than fine. They've got a little club going on." He nudged her with his elbow until she looked at him, giving Mel a cheeky little grin. "Now Skye's got a big sister and a big brother."

Melinda smiled. There had been no question that Nat would be in love with Skye, but she was thrilled with how besotted Skye seemed to be with Natasha. Skye wanted to be a little Tasha mini-me. It was adorable, if very slightly irritating.

"Two down, one to go." Mel laughed. "Bobbi's going to have a lot to live up to. Maybe I should call her and tell her to buy a pet before she comes home. Worked for Nat." Melinda grimaced. "Even if it is a _spider."_

"Would you rather it was a dog? Because Clint is obsessed with dogs." Phil shook his head.

"Yes. I'd rather it was a dog."

Phil glared at her. "Do _not _let Clint hear you say that. Because he will come back here with a dog. And Mel, I swear to god, I'm not taking care of a dog while they're in DC."

Melinda waved him off. "Clint is not that obsessed with dogs, Phil. You're exaggerating."

"Melinda, he has a picture of a dog is his wallet that he cut out from a vet advertisement in the paper." Phil sat up. "In. His. _Wallet._"

"Calm down, we're not going to let him get a dog." Melinda yawned heavily and ran a hand through her hair.

"Tired?" Phil stroked the back of her hand with his thumb.

"I guess. I think it's just the week catching up to me." She smiled. "I love Skye but it's been a long time since I've had to deal with so much energy in one compact person."

Phil kissed her cheek. "Kid's like the freaking Energizer bunny."

"Yeah." Mel turned to head to meet her husband's lips and kissed him gently. "But she's pretty cute."

"Mmm, I guess we'll keep her." He teased.

"I guess so." Melinda cuddled up to him, resting her head on his chest.

He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled into her hair.

Mel smiled. "I'm glad I disobeyed my mother's wishes and married you when I was eighteen."

He chuckled. "Me too. I don't think anyone else would have me."

"Well, you're not all bad." She smiled.

"I mean, you're the best wife ever." Phil said.

"I know."

Phil continued, fingers beginning to dance under the hem of her t-shit onto her bare belly. "How many wives would put up with my classic car obsession? Or my antique gadget obsession? Or my Captain America obsession?"

Melinda turned to look up at him. "God, you're right, you _are _hard to put up with." She shrugged. "Sorry, I've decided that after twenty five years of marriage, I'm divorcing you. Bye." She turned away from him with a smirk.

Phil poked her bare side with one finger. "Can I convince you otherwise?" He kissed her cheek, but then began tickling her stomach until the muscles jumped underneath her skin.

"M'not ticklish." She mumbled into her pillow.

"Then why are you trying not to squirm?" He continued his onslaught of tickles until Melinda squeaked and batted him away.

"Phil. Okay, _Phil." _Melinda felt herself beginning to get hysterical, the smile aching her cheeks and the laughter aching her belly. He didn't stop. "I will burn all of your Cap crap!"

For a second his fingers stilled and his face went serious, making Mel snort. "It is not _crap _Melinda, it is a collection of memorabilia of one of the countries' finest heroes."

"He's not real." She fake whispered.

"How _dare _you." Phil lifted Melinda's shirt and blew a raspberry onto her belly.

She squealed loudly and uncharacteristically. "_Phil!"_

There were three short raps on their bedroom door, and red-faced and panting, both Phil and Melinda turned to the source of the noise.

"Oh my _God, _you guys." Natasha's voice carried through the door clearly, a tiny hint of her Russian accent slipping through. "What are you doing in there?"

"Maybe they're having sex." Clint's voice sniggered. "Ow!" Apparently Nat had punched him for that comment.

"Mom and Dad do _not _have sex." Nat said, seemingly to Clint. "They're too old."

Mel smiled at Phil. He was looking halfway between horrified and offended. She nudged him and grinned mischievously at him.

"Actually," Mel called out to the kids outside of her door, "your dad and I have lots of sex."

"_Mommy!" _Nat sounded scandalised. She could hear Clint laughing.

Phil's cheeks were scarlet. Melinda was enjoying this far too much.

"In fact, Natasha," Mel kept her eyes on Phil the entire time she spoke, loving his mortification. "We're having sex right now as we speak."

Melinda could no longer hold in the laughter bubbling up inside her when matching retching sounds from both Nat and Clint sounded through the door. Phil put his head in his hands and groaned, apparently loud enough that Nat heard because she immediately began cursing her parents for all it was worth.

Wiping tears from her eyes, Mel stood and walked over to their bedroom door, opening it to reveal the kids both looking pale and horrified. She stepped out into the hallway, pulling the door closed a little, keeping it still ajar.

"That was quick." Clint muttered. Mel rolled her eyes and clipped him on the ear.

"I was kidding." She turned to Natasha. "Calm down. I wasn't having sex with your father."

"Stop saying the _word_. Oh my God, mom."

"So," She cocked an eyebrow at the kids, "have I sufficiently traumatised you for life?"

"Yes." The two said in tandem.

"Good." Mel looked poignantly at Natasha. "We're not to old to have _sex. _Lesson learned?_"_

"I feel sick." Nat complained.

"Honey," Mel put a gentle hand on Tasha's shoulder and looked between her and Clint, "that's exactly how your father feels about you having sex with Clint."

Both Natasha and Clint blushed profusely. Clint scratched the back of his head, muttered something that sounded like 'never be able to look him in the eye again' and stumbled off in the direction of their room. Natasha bit her lip and looked down at her feet.

She kept her head down but peeked up at her mother. "Is he mad?"

Mel smiled. "Bubba, this isn't a new revelation for him, no matter how much he likes to pretend he is unaware of your sexual exploits."

"Ew, mom. Don't call it _that."_

"Sorry. But you know what I mean, Tash?" Mel held her hand out and Natasha took it, stepping closer to her mother.

"I kind of hoped he'd never find out." Nat said quietly. "I don't mind telling _you _but…" She trailed off.

"Dad's different?" Mel said sympathetically. She was forty three, not dead. She could still remember the awkward revelations she'd had with her own relatives and like most others on the planet, Nat would have to soldier through them.

"Dad's different." Nat confirmed.

Melinda tugged her forward the last few baby steps and pulled her teenager into her arms. Nat went gladly and hugged her mother tightly.

"While you're here," Mel said, "and while we're on topic, I just want you to know you can talk to me about anything."

"I know, mama. We've had this conversation before." Natasha sounded exasperated but Mel didn't care, continuing regardless.

"I know, I know. But I want to reiterate the point." She moved to hold Nat's face in her hands, looking at her eye-to-eye. "_Anything,_ Natasha."

Natasha frowned and Mel dropped her hands from her face. "Mom…you, er, you don't think I'm pregnant, do you?"

Mel nearly choked. "_Now _I do."

"I'm not! I'm not!" Nat rushed to explain. "I swear I'm not pregnant."

"Who's pregnant?!" Phil called panicked. His face appeared at the door half a second later and he looked at Natasha. "Sweet Jesus, you're _pregnant?"_

"No, I-,"

"Clint Barton you get your ass out here this second!"

"Phil," Mel chastised, "you'll wake Skye."

"Dad-," Nat tried.

Clint poked his head out of the door. "Huh?"

"You got her knocked up?" Phil growled.

Mel rubbed her temples as Clint went white. "I did what?" He looked to Natasha. "You're-"

"No one is _pregnant!" _Natasha shouted, and everyone fell quiet. "Right?" She looked between her parents and Clint. "I guarantee you, that as of right now, I am not with child. Okay?"

"Oh, thank the Lord." Phil sighed. "I'm going back to bed before I have a panic attack."

"Sorry, Daddy!" Nat called after him, and Phil gave a wave as he retreated into the room.

"I thought I was gonna puke." Clint said.

"Me too." Mel muttered. She honestly did feel like sick for a bit there.

"Let's go back to bed." Nat said to Clint and he ducked back into the room. Natasha hugged her mother again. "Sorry for scaring you."

"You better be." Mel kissed Nat on the forehead. "Night, Bubba. I love you."

"I love you, too, Mama." Nat disappeared into her room, leaving Mel alone in the hallway.

She took a couple of seconds to compose herself after the little episode, but it was short-lived, when Skye's bedroom door opened and a bleary eyed eight-year-old stepped out, Mr. Snow in hand. She had a wobbling bottom lip as she stumbled over to Melinda.

"There was shouting." Skye mumbled and Mel leaned down to pick her up. The little girl automatically clung to her like a baby monkey, pressing her face into Melinda's neck.

"It's okay, baby." She shushed, taking her back into her room.

"You were fighting." Skye said. "It was scary."

Melinda stopped on her journey to Skye's bed, feeling overwhelmingly guilty that she had managed to scare Skye. How many times had Skye been awoken by shouting in both St Agnes' and her foster homes? How many times had she woken up terrified in the middle of the night? Too many, she guessed.

"I'm so sorry we scared you." Mel whispered back to Skye. "It wasn't a real fight." She tried to explain. "No one was _really_ mad."

"Tasha shouted." Skye said.

"I know. But no one is mad, okay? I promise."

Skye lifted her head and Melinda was devastated to discover her cheeks were damp with tears. That settled it. There was no way Melinda was putting Skye back to bed on her own after they had all frightened her, even if it was unintentional and really quite ridiculous.

She stepped back out into the hall and closed Skye's door. "How about you keep Phil and I company tonight?" Mel said.

Skye frowned. "I'm 'posed to sleep in my own bed."

Melinda had never said that once. It hadn't ever been necessary, but apparently that was because someone else had drilled it into Skye's mind.

"Tonight I think I want cuddles from my baby, though." Mel smiled, kissing Skye's cheek. "You want to come and sleep with me in my bed?"

Skye nodded eagerly, tightening her grip on Mel.

Melinda carried Skye back into her and Phil's room. Phil was lying down in the bed, but he sat up when she walked in with Skye.

"Skye got woken up by the ruckus." She explained, climbing into bed without leaving go of Skye. "So she's going to sleep here tonight and give me cuddles, huh?"

Skye nodded. The little girl sat in the centre of the bed stiffly until Mel settled down on her side and patted the space next to her. At that, Skye snuggled into Melinda, thumb of one hand going into her mouth, and the other hand feeling around for Phil. He smiled and moved closer to Skye, until her little hand wrapped around his hand.

The little girl was asleep in seconds. Her hand continued to clutch Phil's, and her nose pressed into Melinda's chest.

Phil met Melinda's eyes over the top of Skye's head. "I love our kids." He whispered. "I love them so much."

"Me too." She said quietly, nuzzling Skye's hair.

"And I love you, Mel."

She smirked at him. "Ditto."

"Ditto?" He whispered. "Are you freaking kidding me?"

"Fine." She grinned sleepily, placing a hand on top of where Phil's and Skye's were joined. "I love you, too."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Review please! Let me know what you thought!**


	10. Skye's In Trouble

**A/N: Enjoy! And thanks for all of the reviews from the last chapter. xx**

* * *

><p>Phil awoke to a silent house, but with a tiny pointy elbow in his face. For a second he was incredibly confused, because the face full of dark hair was usually courtesy of Melinda, but this person was much smaller.<p>

Skye.

Things began piecing themselves back together as sleep gave way to consciousness, and Phil remembered the family's weird little argument that had ended up with Skye sharing their bed. Which was fine. She was like a little thermos lying in between him and a still sleeping Mel, making Phil overheat, but she was so cute cuddled up under their duvet, he hadn't the heart to move her.

Phil had intended to watch his wife and daughter sleep for a little longer before dragging himself out of bed to shower, but a thud followed by a string of curses peaked his curiosity enough to get him up sooner. The thud had come from down the hall. Tasha and Clint's room.

"_Sorry." _Tash's voice said. "_Clint, I'm so sorry."_

Phil got out of bed but stayed still by the closed bedroom door and listened.

"_God, Nat." _That was Clint. "_You got me good, baby."_

Phil scrunched up his face. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear anymore, but curiosity…well, maybe he hadn't learned from what it did to the cat.

"_I'm so sorry, Clint, I didn't…here let me see…oh God, hang on I'll go wake my dad. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Clint."_

"_Tash, it's fine. I'll be fine."_

"_No, I'll get Dad. I'm so sorry."_

Phil opened the bedroom door and stepped out just as Natasha was racing down the hall in pyjamas, blood on her hands. Not wanting to wake Skye and Mel, Phil closed the door behind him and immediately began walking to Nat's room.

"What's happened?" He asked, eyeing her bloody hands. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, but I hurt Clint." She said. Nat looked devastated. "Dad, I did not mean it. I…Daddy…" She was getting upset, which never bode well for anyone. Her accent was slipping though, getting stronger with each sentence.

"Natasha, calm down." Phil gripped her shoulders and forced her to look at him, stopping their journey to her room. "It's okay. I heard him complaining, so he's probably not dying." He smirked at his little attempt at humour, but the expression died when Nat failed to do anything more than look to her room with panic. "Okay, come on, honey. Let's see the damage."

Natasha jogged the last few steps to her room and barged in, running straight over to Clint, who Phil saw, was sat on the floor, propped up by the dresser, seemingly attempting to stem the bleeding from his nose. Phil crossed the room and kneeled down in front of Clint, taking the young man's chin in his hand.

"What happened?" He asked, inspecting Clint's nose gently.

"S'nothing." Clint said.

"I punched him…I think." Nat held Clint's hand tightly, but from what Phil could see, it was Clint attempting to soothe Nat more than anything else.

"She was having a nightmare." Clint explained, wincing slightly when Phil put a little too much pressure on the bridge. "But it wasn't your fault, Tash."

"How can you say that? I _hit _you." She gasped.

"In your sleep. You were having a bad dream." Clint lowered his voice and Phil pretended not to hear what he said next, spending longer than necessary inspecting his face. "We both have them, Nat. It's okay. You take care of me and I take care of you, right."

"Right." Nat said quietly. "But I still punched you."

"Actually," Clint looked to Phil, "she gave me a really strong backhand when I tried to wake her up and I fell out the bed."

Clint was hurt and Natasha was devastated that she had caused the injury, and Phil probably should have been more sensitive to the situation, but the mental images of Natasha basically slapping Clint out of bed was too much to handle and he burst out laughing. Clint smiled, too, despite the blood still running into his mouth, and even Nat gave a little twitch of her lips.

"Sorry." Phil apologised. "But you're fine. Not broken, just bleeding."

Nat visibly relaxed and kissed Clint on the cheek, avoiding the blood. "I'm so sorry."

"Stop it, Tash. I'm fine." Clint smiled in what Phil assumed was meant to be a reassuring way, but the blood in his teeth dampened the affect. "Phil's an expert first aider. He knows his stuff."

"I do." Phil said, standing up. He pulled Clint to his feet, taking another look at the nose that finally seemed to have stopped bleeding. "I know lots of stuff." He looked to Natasha. "Like maybe this was a sign that you two shouldn't be sleeping in the same bed? Huh?" He grinned at them. "How about separate beds on opposite sides of the house? Doesn't that sound _awesome_?"

Both kids looked at him with disbelieving looks. Nat raised a single eyebrow and smirked at him, now that she knew Clint was okay.

"I don't think that's what the sign was, Dad." She said.

Phil sighed. "Was worth a try." He patted Clint on the shoulder and wrapped an arm around Nat, kissing her cheek. "You okay, honey?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"You need to talk about the dream?"

"No. Dad. I don't want to." Nat said.

"That's fine." Phil pulled away from her. "But you know, both of you, can come to me, or Mel anytime-,"

"To talk about anything." Nat finished for him with a smirk. "We _know_. But thank you."

"Thanks, Dad." Clint said sincerely. It wasn't often he used the label without teasing, but Phil didn't comment on it, just smiled.

"Right, you guys. We're going to the gym to do various important work-related things, and I was wondering if you'd watch Skye there for a while? Maybe take her to play with the other kids in the youth gym."

Nat's face lit up. "Yes. We can do that."

"Yep. I'm up for hanging with the kids." Clint agreed.

"Great. Thanks." Phil said. "Skye loves you guys, you know. Just remember that. She's never had a lot of people to rely on."

"She's got us, now, Dad." Nat said. "I promise."

"Good. Now go take a shower." He waved in the general direction of the two kids still covered in blood.

"Sure thing." Clint said.

Phil walked out of the bedroom with the intention of taking his own shower when the sound of Nat's giggling reached his ears and he felt the need to clarify something. "_Separate _showers." He called through the door. "As in '_not together'._"

"_Yes, Dad." _Clint called bad, the teasing having returned in full force.

…

Usually when Skye woke up it was because either Mel or Phil were waking her for school. They turned on her light and opened her curtains, and sometimes when she was very sleepy and didn't want to wake up, Melinda would tickle her so that she _had _to wake up. But today was different.

Skye remembered being frightened when she was woken up by shouting. And she remembered Melinda bringing her into her and Phil's room to sleep. She hadn't opened her eyes yet, but Skye knew that's where she was, in Mel and Phil's bed. It smelt a bit different then hers but still felt safe and warm.

"You waking up, beautiful?" Mel asked.

Skye opened her eyes and blinked up at her. Mel was smiling, sitting up in bed and stroking Skye's hair. She was still a little too sleepy to talk, so Skye just cuddled back into Melinda and put her thumb into her mouth.

"Ah ah." Mel pulled Skye's hand away from her mouth and she couldn't help but give a little whine of protest. "Nope. No thumb sucking when it's time to wake up. We've things to do, places to be. We can't go back to sleep."

"Mm. Want to though." Skye argued lamely, mostly for the sake of delaying getting up, because she knew she would never win.

"Sorry, baby. Time to get up." Melinda tickled her sides a little, making Skye squirm. "Are you getting up? Is it working?"

"Yes. _Yes." _Skye laughed, sitting up and brushing off the covers. "See. I'm awake now."

"Good. Come on let's get up." Melinda made to get out of the bed, but Skye stopped her when she noticed something.

"Where's Phil?"

"He's-," Mel began, but was interrupted by the bedroom door opening and Phil walking in. "He's there." She frowned. "And he's apparently been involved in an incident."

Skye gasped at the blood on Phil's hands. "You're hurt." She said, and felt herself getting upset. "Mel, Phil's hurt."

"I'm _fine." _Phil said, but Skye didn't believe him. He had blood on him. He was hurt.

"No you're not." Skye argued. "There's blood."

"Skye." Phil said and held up his bloody hands. "Listen, sweetie, it's fine. It's not _my_ blood."

Melinda shifted next to Skye on the bed and the little girl felt herself being pulled backwards until her back was against the headboard. Mel climbed of the bed and walked over to Phil.

"Then whose blood is it?" Melinda asked.

Phil glanced in Skye's direction. "Everyone's fine, okay." He said, then looked back to Mel. "Nat had a nightmare." He said it really quietly, like he didn't want Skye to hear, but she heard anyway.

"I don't like nightmares." Skye said.

"No," Phil smiled, "neither does Natasha, and she got pretty scared and _accidentally _hit Clint in the face. Gave him a bloody nose." Skye didn't think it was very funny, but Phil was laughing and that was making Melinda smile. "He's fine. They're both fine, but she came and got me when it happened."

"Is Clint's nose okay?" Skye asked. She's had a bloody nose more than once because someone had hit her. It wasn't a very nice feeling.

"He's fine, Skye." Phil assured her.

"He's tough." Melinda said. "He'll be okay."

Phil went into the ensuite and Mel followed. They were talking, but Skye's couldn't hear over the sound of running water. Skye had once given someone a bloody nose. By accident, like Natasha. The girls in her room at the orphanage had been pinning her to the ground and spitting on her, and Skye had kicked out her leg and hit one of them in the face. Even though they had been being mean to her, Skye had still felt _really _bad.

She jumped off the bed and went into the bathroom. Melinda was stilling on the closed toilet seat while Phil washed his hands.

"Is Natasha okay?" Skye asked.

Phil dried his clean hands off on a towel and crouched down in front of Skye. "Is Nat okay?" He repeated her question.

"Yeah. You said Clint's nose was okay. But is Natasha okay?" Both adults looked as though they didn't quite understand what Skye was getting at, so she attempted to clarify. "Because she might feel bad that she hurt him. I don't want her to feel bad. 'Specially if it wasn't her fault."

"She was a little upset." Phil said. "But once she knew Clint was okay, she felt okay, too."

Skye nodded. "So she's good, though?"

"Yes." Phil smiled. "You're really worried about her, huh?"

Skye was. She nodded.

"Don't worry, okay." Phil said. "Nat's fine. Clint's fine. Okay?"

"Kay." Skye said. She trusted that Phil was telling her the truth, but she would make sure herself later, just to be absolutely positive.

…

Nat's mom and dad had driven them all to the gym, but both had made themselves scarce up in the offices, presumably doing paperwork or other things Nat really couldn't care less about. It had left Nat, Clint and Skye to entertain themselves.

"You wanna go play in the youth gym?" Clint asked Skye. He swung their hands where Skye's little one was wrapped up in his.

Natasha had noticed how when they had left the car the little girl had automatically glued herself to at least one of them. Since both her mom and dad had gone upstairs, Skye had held a strong grip on Nat and Clint. It occurred to Natasha that this was probably the first time since moving in that Skye had been left without the company of her parents, apart from when she was at school. Natasha stroked a thumb over the back of Skye's hand.

"What's youth gym?" Skye asked looking up at Clint. He was beginning to get a little bruising under one of his eyes, all purple and blue, for which Natasha felt endlessly guilty, despite him insisting he was fine.

Clint's eyes lit up. "Oh, Skye, it's _awesome._" He grinned. "They've got the best toys. Right, Nat?"

Skye looked over to her, and Tasha nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty cool. Mom and Dad set it up so kids can play there while their parents are in the actual gym."

"It's so cool." Clint smiled. "Let's go check out what they're doing." He pulled them in the direction of the youth gym, chattering on to Skye about the various pieces of equipment they had.

Natasha liked the youth gym just fine. Not as much as Clint, but he was a kid at heart and loved nothing more than joining in with all of the activities they had going on. The past few summers had seen her parents giving Clint and Nat summer jobs in the gym, and Clint did all he could to wing his way into a job with the youth gym.

Technically she was too old to attend, as was Clint. Youth gym was not really a gym at all, just a massive extension to the main building that acted more like a short-term camp, with various clubs and activities for kids of all ages up to sixteen, but being the daughter of the gym owners had it's benefits and she and Clint had often found themselves playing 'round robin' with groups of kids while at the gym. As they arrived at the main sports hall, Nat could see it wasn't a 'round robin' kind of day. Most of the kids seemed to be kicking soccer balls around, shooting at mini-goals and dribbling them through cones.

"Awesome, soccer." Clint grinned. "You like soccer Skye?" He asked.

Skye looked wearily at the many children running around the hall and Natasha didn't miss the way her grip on her hand tightened.

"Um, I'm not sure. I think so, maybe." A stray ball rolled over towards Skye, but she stepped away from it.

Clint kicked it back to the little girl from whom the ball had escaped. "You wanna go play?" He was itching to join in, eyeing the group of kids attempting keepy-ups at the far side of the hall.

"No. I just…" Skye looked up at Natasha. "I don't wanna go play."

"That's okay." Natasha said. "Why don't we just watch for a little while? While Clint goes and plays."

Skye nodded.

Clint looked at her in question. "You sure. I don't mind sitting with you guys if-,"

"Go. Go on." Nat said. "You show those kids how it's done. We'll watch."

"Okay. But you come over and join in anytime, okay, Skye?"

"Kay."

He ran off to join the group of kids in the far end, immediately finding his place as a leader amongst the kids. Not for the first time Natasha thought Clint would make a good teacher. The kids were shouting after him, all vying for his attention. As much as Clint preferred his own company to large crowds generally, it seemed to be different when it came to interacting with kids.

Natasha suspected he didn't quite understand how terrifying this all must seem to Skye. Nat _got _it. She had been thrust into school having known no one and knowing very little English and it had been frightening. Although this was not the same by any stretch of the imagination, this unfamiliar territory with unfamiliar people would be frightening to Skye.

She led her little sister over to the benches and the two sat down side-by-side. Skye leaned into her a little and Natasha put her arm around her shoulders.

They watched Clint attempting and failing to do soccer tricks for a few minutes, much to the amusement of Skye, who giggled every time Clint failed a trick and overdramatically threw himself to the ground to make the kids laugh.

"I'm sorry you had a bad dream, Tasha." Skye said suddenly, her eyes still following Clint.

"Oh, um, thanks." Nat said. She had assumed someone had told Skye _something _to explain Clint's growing black eye, but she hadn't been aware of either her mother or father telling her about her nightmare.

"Bad dreams are scary." Skye said.

"Yeah, they are."

"And that's why you hit Clint on accident. 'Cos you got scared."

"Yeah." Nat swallowed. "Yes."

"But," Skye turned to her and smiled, "s'okay 'cos it was an accident."

Nat nodded. "But I still feel guilty."

Skye looked at her in a way that Natasha had only seen a few times before, mostly from Clint and her mother, and occasionally Bobbi- just like she _completely _understood everything she was feeling.

Skye reached up to pet Natasha's hair, a little awkwardly with how much shorter she was than her, but the gesture was so sweet that Tasha found herself straining not to well up. "Don't feel bad, Tasha." Skye continued her head pets. To an outsider it probably looked comical. "It was an accident and Clint still loves you. Don't feel bad."

"I'll try my best." She promised.

"Good." Skye smiled and stood up. "I think I might want to play now."

Nat blinked at the quick change in pace and took Skye's offered hand. "Okay. What would you like to do?"

Skye took a good look around the room, then began pulling Natasha over to where Clint was, waiting at the back of the line to kick a ball into a soccer goal. "I wanna do this."

Clint saw them coming and grinned. "Hey! You coming to join in?"

"Yeah." Skye plucked the last ball out of a large bin by Clint. "Tasha, you can share with me."

"Thanks, Skye." She smiled. "But I think I'm just going to watch."

Skye shrugged, and turned back to face the front of the line, still holding onto her hand.

Clint moved to let Skye go in front of him in the line and came to stand behind Natasha. "She okay?" He whispered in her ear, kissing her cheek as he said it.

"Yeah. My dad must have told her about this morning, though. She was worried." Nat whispered.

"About me?" Clint asked.

"About me." Nat said. "She doesn't want me to feel guilty."

Clint smiled and wrapped his arms around Natasha's waist, resting his head on her shoulder. "Skye and I seem to have the same opinion. You know I'd still love you even if you punched me in the face every morning."

"I _shouldn't _be hitting you in my sleep though. It's not fair on you."

"Come off it, Nat." He shuffled them forward as Skye got closer to the front of the line. "I've totally kicked you in my sleep because of a nightmare. We're just as bad as each other."

She couldn't disagree with him there. He may have never bloodied her nose in his sleep, but Tasha had received her fair share of shin bruising from his disturbed dreams. And she supposed she'd never once wanted him to even feel a morsel of guilt.

"We deserve each other." She smirked and turned her head to kiss him. "I love you."

"I love you, too, sleep-ninja."

Skye tugged on Nat's hand until she looked at her. She was at the front of the line, chewing on her lip nervously.

"What's up?" Nat asked.

"If I take my turn, you'll still be here, right?" Skye asked. "You won't leave me?"

"No, of course not." Natasha's grip on Skye's hand got tighter, the exact opposite of what Skye _actually _required at this moment in time, but she needed her little sister to know that she was never going to disappear on her. She let go of Skye's hand. "Go on. Take your turn and we'll wait right here. I promise."

Skye gently placed her soccer ball down on the mark and took her shot at the goal. The little boy playing goalie caught it, but she didn't seem to care, running over to get the ball off him and grinning from ear to ear.

"Did you guys see how hard I kicked it?" She asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet as they made their way back to the back of the line.

"I did." Clint laughed. "You're a real Messi."

Skye looked at him blankly and Nat didn't blame her. She had no idea what he was talking about.

"No?" Clint said. "Nothing? Okay then." He looked back down at Skye. "I just meant you were good."

"Cool." Skye said.

"Cool." Clint agreed.

Natasha and Clint watched at Skye took four, five, six more tries at kicking the ball into the goal. Gradually they moved further away, less of a conscious decision and more to allow the other kids to join onto the line without being in the way. Although Skye watched them closely, she seemed content with knowing they were sat over by the benches, and Nat felt a little pride swell in her heart when she saw Skye chatting to some of the other kids amicably.

"Hey, look, our little sis is making friends." Clint said.

"She is." Nat smiled.

"She's more sociable than you are." He smirked, and Nat felt his body brace for the punch she gave to his arm.

"Shut up." She smirked.

"Yes, ma'am." Clint blew a raspberry into her neck, making Nat squirm. He stopped abruptly. "Uh-oh."

"What?" Nat asked, and followed his gaze to Skye.

"That kid just took her ball." He said.

Natasha watched as a young boy, bigger than Skye but still just a kid, held Skye's ball over her head, laughing as he taunted her. She stood up and began to storm over, with the full intention to teach the little bully a lesson, but Clint held her back.

"Nat, you can't _hit_ him. The kid's like ten." Clint warned.

Tasha bristled at his touch. "He's being mean to Skye." She'd _promised _look after Skye and now some punk was bullying her.

Skye was asking for the ball back. Nat could hear her, asking over and over again "Please, give me it back." Skye getting more and more frustrated each time she asked.

The boy held the ball out to Skye and she reached for it, but at the last second the kid rammed it into Skye's chest, causing her to fall backwards. Both Nat _and _Clint rushed forwards at that, but Skye was up quickly, charging towards the boy.

"Go get him, Skye." Nat called.

Skye turned to look at her and nodded, determination set on her little face.

"Hit him!" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Nat knew she'd said a bad thing. Clint's grip on her shoulder tightened and he shouted after Skye.

"Do _not _hit him, Skye!"

Whether Skye took Clint's advice to heart or not was difficult to tell because although she didn't hit the boy, she _did _kick him hard in the shin, twice, until he fell himself, and dropped the ball at her feet.

"She kicked me!" The boy shouted, and many of the kids stopped their playing to look over at the incident. Nat felt guilt bubbling up in her chest. This was _her _fault.

"Yeah." Skye said, less confident and more surprised. She stood over the boy a moment, looked over to Nat and Clint with a worried expression, then back at the boy. "Don't take my stuff. Kay."

For all of the effort she had gone through to get the ball back, Skye dropped it as she ran over to Clint and Natasha. The little girl ploughed into Nat, wrapping her arms around her waist and burying her face into her stomach.

"I did a bad thing." Skye mumbled, and Natasha could only bite her lip and hug her back, because, yeah, she had done something bad and it had been all Nat's fault.

"Mom's going to kill me." She mumbled.

Clint rubbed her back. "Oh, yeah."

…

Melinda wanted to be spending her Saturday with her two youngest daughters, but apparently the world had other ideas and she was holed up in her office discussing serious business matters with Tony Stark. For a man who appeared at first glance to be a four-year-old in a forty-year-old's body, the man could actually turn business pretty quickly. But that's how he was a billionaire, she supposed.

"I'm talking all the treadmills, replaced across the centre, _and _twenty five new ones for the new gym, all for fifty grand." Tony sat on the other side of Mel's desk, hands clasped over some paperwork.

"No. No way, Stark." Mel said. She knew that it was a good deal. Stark's equipment was in another league and each piece of tech was probably worth over five thousand dollars retail, and he was offering her a good price, but she knew the drill. Haggle for all it's worth. "Thirty."

"No way, Mel. I'd be losing out." Tony shook his head. "Forty-five. Final offer. And I get to keep the old treadmills to resell."

She'd been betting on that. They didn't have room to house the old ones _and _the new ones. "Forty. You keep the old ones and throw in some of that new software for the computers."

He groaned and ran a hand over his face. Mel just watched.

"Come on, Stark. Our kids are friends." She grinned. "They're spies together, or haven't you heard?"

"Yeah," He smiled. "I've been hearing all about little miss 'Agent Skye'. Fine." Stark nodded. "Forty thou, new software, and I get the old mills for resale." He held out his hand and they shook on it.

"Nice doing business with you, Mr. Stark." Melinda said. "I'll be sure to put in a good word with your girlfriend when I take Skye to school on Monday."

"Thanks." He laughed. "I'm actually in the dog house as we speak because I let Grant play with a car battery. Apparently that's not classified as a," he held up air quotes, "'child-friendly toy'."

Mel shook her head at him. "No, no it's not."

"I don't see the problem. I was creating my own lithium batteries to power my friends' dirt bikes when I was ten. Anyway, Grant loved it and he was _fine._"

She rolled her eyes. "Listen to Pepper, Tony. You've got a lot to learn about parenting."

Tony smirked. "Oh, as if _you're _an expert." He teased.

"Actually, I kind of am." She bantered back.

Melinda's office door opened and the apologetic face of Maria Hill appeared in her doorway. "Sorry to interrupt-,"

"What's happened?" Mel interrupted, already standing from her desk. That expression on Maria always meant _something_ had happened.

Maria sighed. "There's been a complaint from a parent of a 'violent child' in the youth gym."

"Uh-oh." Tony said. "Sounds like we need Melly to hand out some expert parenting advice."

"Don't call me that." Mel flicked the billionaire's ear. "Any kid we know?" She asked Maria.

"Uh…it's Skye." Maria said with a grimace.

"Melly, maybe you need a little more practice, huh?" Tony said, spinning around in his chair.

Melinda just sighed and took a moment to compose herself, following Maria out of the office and towards where she expected to find her children. Words were going to be had.

…

Skye hadn't meant to hurt the boy.

Actually, that was lie.

In the moment, Skye's full intention had been to hurt him. He'd taken her ball and he'd been teasing her, and then Natasha had said to hit him and Clint had said not to, and then Skye had been so mad with the boy that she had just kicked him. She'd kicked him really hard.

As soon as she had done it, Skye knew she had been bad. The boy was properly hurt. His leg was bleeding, like Clint's nose had been that morning, except this hadn't been an accident. He was crying. _Really _crying, not fake crying and Skye had lived in the orphanage for eight years so she was an _expert_ on spotting fake tears. His were real. She felt sick. Skye had _hurt _him.

The boy's mommy had been really mad and she had shouted at Skye. Called Skye 'violent' and 'vicious'. Skye didn't want to be any of those things and she got upset and no matter how hard she tried not to cry, she couldn't help it because even Natasha looked upset.

Skye didn't want Natasha to be sad.

They stood in one of the back rooms of the gym. Someone Skye didn't know was putting a band-aid on the boy's leg. The man kept looking over at Skye while he cleaned the blood of the boy's leg. She thought maybe Natasha and Clint knew him, because he kept catching both of their eyes.

The boy's mommy was saying mean things to them. "It's a disgrace." She said to Natasha. "Letting a little brat in a place like this. I pay good money to come here and to have my son attend and look what I get for it! She should be locked up!"

Clint scoffed at the woman. "Exaggerate much?"

"She's a little delinquent." The women spat.

"Hey, your son is not exactly all sunshine and rainbows either." Natasha was shouting too. She was saying her words funny, with a different accent. "He hurts my sister, she hurt him. Simple. Is over now."

"Nat." Clint said it really quietly, but Natasha stopped shouting anyway.

The boy's mom stepped towards Skye. She was scary and for a second Skye thought she might hit her for hurting her son, but then Clint lifted her off her feet and held Skye in his arms so no one could hut her. Even if she did probably deserve it.

The door opened and Skye's heart sank. Melinda walked into the room. Her friend Maria was stood behind her.

"I'm sorry." Skye said automatically, but Melinda gave no indication that she had heard her.

"Trip, please escort Mrs Buldger and her son to Phil's office. Maria will go with you." Mel turned to the boy's mom. "Mrs Buldger I am so sorry for your terrible experience today, but if you'll follow Mr Triplett and Miss Hill, you will be able to air anything you wish in an open discussion with Mr Coulson."

The woman huffed and glared at Skye, still in Clint's arms, but took her son's hand and followed Trip and Maria out of the room. The door closed and room fell silent. Skye watched quietly as Melinda sat down in the only chair in the room, folded her arms and blinked at them.

"Go." She said.

"It wasn't Skye's fault." Both Clint and Natasha said at the same time.

They looked at each other, then back to Melinda, and Skye could only frown in confutation.

"It was not her fault." Natasha said. "Mama, it was not her fault."

Skye shook her head. "Yes it was. I kicked him." The tears pricked at her eyes again. "I- I kicked him. I'm sorry." They began rolling down her cheeks. "I was bad. I'm sorry."

"I told her to." Natasha said. "Mom, the boy was being mean to her and I told her to hit him."

Skye didn't know what to say. It wasn't Natasha's fault. No one had _forced _her to hurt the boy, Skye had done it all on her own. Natasha didn't want Skye to get into trouble, but Skye felt the same way about her big sister.

"Listen." Melinda said. "I know this probably all started being the fault of that boy, but bad decisions were made here." She wasn't shouting, like Skye had expected, but Melinda had her 'serious voice' on. "I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed in you." She looked between Natasha and Skye. "Both of you."

"That's way worse than you being mad." Natasha said.

"Then make better choices next time, Natasha." Mel stood up. "You're a big sister now. You're an adult. You need to be a good example."

Natasha looked down. "I know." She said quietly. "I'm sorry."

Melinda hugged Natasha, which Skye thought was kind of weird. She'd expected Mel to, well, Skye wasn't really sure, but hugging had been her last guess when Mel said she was disappointed.

"Remember." Mel said to Natasha. "When you feel yourself getting angry you just need to stop and _think_. Especially now, Tasha." She kissed her head and stepped away. Melinda looked at Clint. "Give me Skye. You two can go help in the offices for the rest of the day. There's some files in your Dad's office that need alphabetised. Stay there until someone comes and gets you."

"Yes, Mom." Nat said.

"Yes, Mel." Clint said, and put Skye down on her feet. Both he and Nat gave her little smiles before they left the room, and that made Skye feel much better.

Melinda got down onto her knees. "I know you're sorry."

"I am." Skye said.

"I know. But we need to talk about what happened. Skye, you understand that you _cannot _hurt someone because you don't like what they are doing."

Skye frowned. "But he was being mean to me."

"And that was wrong of him." Mel agreed, putting a hand on her shoulder. "But that does not make it right for you to hurt him, even if Natasha got upset and said it was."

"I'm in trouble." Skye concluded. "Big trouble."

Melinda sighed. "You're not in _big _trouble. But I think we might need to start having more conversations about what is right and wrong."

"I _know _what's right and wrong." Skye said. "I just…forget sometimes."

"And we can work on that." Mel smiled. "But for now, I think you have some apologising to do. Do you agree?"

Skye looked at her shoes. "Yes. Are you disappointed with me?" She asked. Natasha thought that was worse than being mad.

"I am." Melinda said. She looked kind of sad when she said it, and Skye suddenly understood _why_ Tasha would rather she was angry.

Melinda being disappointed made Skye want to start crying again.

"M'sorry." Skye said, snivelling.

"I'm disappointed with your decisions, but baby," Mel said, stroking her cheek, "I still love you. That doesn't change."

Skye's eyes widened. "You love me?"

Mel swallowed. "I do."

"Are you sure?" Skye felt the need to clarify. She had just been _really _bad. Why on earth would Melinda want to love her now?

Melinda smiled. "Very sure, Skye. I love you. I'll love you no matter what you do. Just like I'll always love Nat or Bobbi no matter what decisions they make. I just want you to be happy, and I know making a bad choice today isn't making you happy."

She was right. Skye didn't feel happy about hurting the boy, even if it had got her ball back.

"Hey," Mel said. She pulled Skye close for a hug, and Skye hugged her back tightly. "I love you." She said.

Skye held onto Melinda's shirt. "I love you, too."

Mel kissed her nose and smiled. She swallowed again, hard enough that Skye could really see her throat move.

"Come on, then." Melinda stood up and took Skye's hand. "You can go and say sorry to Mrs Buldger and her son."

As they walked towards the offices, Skye began feeling a lot better. She still felt really guilty about hurting the boy, even if he wasn't a very nice boy, but Melinda hadn't shouted at her. That's what she'd been most scared of.

Melinda loved her. And Skye loved Mel. It felt nice.

…

It had been a long day of paperwork, Tony Stark, and then being screamed at by Mrs Buldger until he offered her three months free membership in apology for Skye hurting her son. Phil wasn't supposed to take sides, but the whole time Mrs Buldger had been in his office, her irritating son had kicked his desk leg and been slyly shooting him the middle finger, apparently having got over his ordeal. Phil had begun to see why the kid had riled up his daughters so much.

Really, after that day, he was just happy to get home. Nat had been particularly quiet the rest of the day and in the car ride home. And Skye had just been exceptionally clingy to Melinda, enough that she had been forced to sit in the back with Nat and Skye while Clint rode up front.

"You guys want takeout?" Phil asked, putting the key in the front door. "Unless anyone wants to cook?" A round of groans met his question and Phil took that as a yes to takeout. "Alright then." He said, stepping back to allow the family to enter the house before him.

He pulled the front door shut behind him, and followed the rest of his family into the living room, inspecting the mail as he went. Frowning at one piece of mail in particular, Phil asked, "When did we sign up for 'Lego magazine'?"

"Oh, that's mine." Clint said, plucking it out of his hands. The two of them walked together, both looking at the Lego spaceship on the cover. "It's the sci-fi issue."

Phil, too preoccupied with Clint's Lego obsession, collided with Melinda who had stopped walking abruptly.

"Mel? What's up?"

Phil need not have asked, as half a second later Natasha squealed and ran across the living room towards the stairs. Phil stepped around Melinda and Skye, and watched as Nat flung herself at her big sister.

Bobbi stood at the far end of the room, hugging her younger sister and grinning madly. "Miss me?" She laughed.

Phil blinked, just in case the stress of the day was causing him to hallucinate, but there she was, his eldest daughter. She rushed forward to hug her mother next, and Skye attached herself to Phil's leg. He was torn between seeing his eldest daughter, whom he hadn't seen in person for _months _and comforting his youngest.

"You know who this is?" Phil asked, lifting Skye into his arms. He kissed her cheek. She wrapped her arms around his neck but didn't hide like he'd expected, instead watching Bobbi and Melinda's interaction with curiosity.

"That's Bobbi." Skye said. She looked at him with a tiny frown. "I thought she was in England."

Phil shrugged and smiled brightly when Bobbi caught his eye. "Me, too."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So Bobbi's back home! Yay!**


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